Healing Fire
by melinary
Summary: I felt the stirring of monsters around me and I still wouldn't take my eyes off her. My hand still rested on her flat stomach..where I could hear this new heartbeat. Our eyes were locked together. Mines filled with awe and wonder...and hers with foreboding and fear...
1. Chapter 1

FAN FICTION STORIES

Seth and Jane

Summary

Post Breaking Dawn, Aro seeks to weaken the link between the Cullens and the Quileutes and dispatches Jane on a mission to secretly create a division between the two families yet a chance encounter between Seth and Jane erupts into a shocking revelation.

Note: Seth is older in this fanfic.

Chapter 1

_Seth_

I sped along the terrain that I knew like the back of my hand, beating out the same old path. Different trails, same duty.

Yet I could never grow tired of this...this ancestral honor I like to call it.

I felt immense relief to be back home, in familiar territory, back among kin and kindred souls. Relief at not having to stifle my wolf nature amidst a teeming city.

It'd been about two weeks since I returned to the Quileute reservation after a five year hiatus. A hiatus in which I'd grown older much to the ribbing and teasing of my 'old' comrades. I'd been reluctant to leave but Leah needed me to be with her more than the wolves needed me.

After the showdown with the Cullens and the Volturi...that name still produces shudders of revulsion from me... Leah became extremely depressed and not in a 'I'll bitch at everyone about it' way, but seriously depressed as in suicidal.

The fact that Emily and Sam had discovered they were expecting a baby, shortly after that Volturi fiasco, hadn't done any wonders for Leah's condition either.

So she'd decided to go away. And being the responsible brother, I'd decided to accompany her. To college.

Jake and Sam had given their blessings, not that Leah'd given them much of a choice.

Now I remember the look of contentment on my sister's face, wrapped up in the arms of her Superbowl star boyfriend as she waved me off at the airport on my way back home. She'd come a long way.

Almost as long as I'd waited to feel the very much missed sensation of ripping out of my human form to shimmer into the immense massiveness of my wolf.

I howled with joy, feeling for the first time in five years the transformation I always craved. As my wolf senses re-familiarized itself with the woodsy scents and textures of the forest, I vowed to myself never to give this up. Ever again.

In my enthusiasm to reclaim my heritage, I'd completely forgotten to secure my clothes.

Damn!

That meant a trip back to Charlie and my mom's house, they'd been married a year now, to collect some stuff.

I preferred to stay at my dad's old house on the reservation rather than impose on my mom and Charlie but I hadn't yet moved my belongings after my homecoming at the Swan's residence. Now I'd be showing up in the police chief's backyard in my 'puppy' robe. No doubt he'd be in a pet friendly mood.

Even though Charlie had become privy to the supernatural machinations lurking behind the natural facade in Forks, he'd adamantly turned a blind eye.

So I was a bit nervous and hesitant to show up in my wolf form. Maybe I would just borrow something from one of the guys.

Feeling better about this course of action, I veered back towards the reservation when my senses became fixated upon the strangest scent.

It was unlike anything I'd scented before. In one way it reminded me of a vamp's scent in relation the the sweet smell yet there was no accompanying sickly aroma which tended to naturally burn our wolf nostrils.

Rather the scent appealed to me but not in a predatory way as if I wanted to hunt for a meal. It attracted me like how the scent of a favoured perfume would appeal to someone. But a hundred times better than that.

My huge paws padded down on the forest floor leading me closer to the source of this intriguing mystery. As I got closer, there was an underlying sense of familiarity in that scent yet I reasoned, it couldn't be any vampire. A vampire's smell was at best repelling to wolves, and this did not repel me at all.

I sensed the scent fading a bit as if whatever caused it was aware of my approach and was fleeing. Without giving much further thought, I frantically picked up my pace, almost desperate not to lose track of it. Whatever_ it _might be.

And it revealed itself soon enough, just as I burst through the heavily wooded trees to speed across one of the many meadows that adorned the area.

Hardly believing my wolf senses, I growled in shock at the sight of the billowy dark grey coat of the fleeing monster.

What the fuck was a Volturi doing in Forks?!

That was my last rational thought as my huge body blurred into action, vaulting towards the creature.

But it swerved with unerring swiftness causing my paws to clutch empty air. I landed on the grass with a heavy thump and immediately sprang on my legs, turning to face the Volturi vamp who dared to trespass Quileute land. Glaring down at the vampire, I effectively blocked..._her_...escape into the thick patch of pines behind me.

In the next few seconds, two things happened simultaneously.

I finally recognized which Volturi this was.

And then I collapsed on the dewy ground of the meadow, writhing in inconceivable torture.


	2. Chapter 2

**All characters belong to the brilliant and innovative Stephenie Meyer 3**

**Chapter 2**

**_Jane_**

There's nothing much that can fracture the cold, analytical vastness of my mind.

Yet when I was summoned before my master, Aro and commanded to go on this mission to _Forks,_ of all places, it took all my centuries of controlling my emotions to not erupt into hysterics.

Not even when Aro informed me that I was to go unaccompanied by Alec did I betray my calm facade.

Alec, who'd always been my companion and accomplice in any Volterra mission.

This was such an inconvenience!

There was something about the look in Aro's milky eyes that unsettled me also, some inner motivation that he chose to keep to himself until he was ready to divulge to the rest of us.

Alec couldn't keep his displeasure from being separated from me, however. He'd approached hesitantly, coming to stand by my side before Aro, studiously ignoring the bland gaze of Marcus and the wary watchfulness of Caius.

"Master, is it truly necessary to send Jane by herself to such a place where our enemies dwell?"

Aro had smiled charmingly as he uttered almost casually,"Do you not think your sister is capable of taking care of herself, dear Alec?"

Alec had been crestfallen and uttered woodenly,"Yes she can, Master."

I, of course, understood his torment. We'd hardly ever been divided from each other since our creation, always moving together as a unit and we'd certainly never embarked on a mission without the other.

But I knew my priority was to Aro's wishes and so turning to my beloved brother, I'd reassuringly patted his arm and whispered,"It'll be fine, Alec."

He'd nodded, a frown still marring his angelic features.

Now passively gazing down at the huge creature in torture, I thought that Alec would have enjoyed the spectacle before me. He, like the other male Volterra vampires, had developed a deep revulsion for these wolves.

It didn't matter to me.

What mattered was that this wolf was not supposed to have spotted me at all. Now I'd have to try to kill him and hide the evidence as I could not have him going back to the rest of his...pack..and reporting my presence in Forks. It'd derail the whole mission for Aro.

Billowy clouds were beginning to obscure the bright sunlight as I stood there gazing down at the creature writhing on the overgrown grass before me. Without my usual Volturi audience to witness me implement my power, this all seemed so utterly boring...and the lack of the other guards presented me with a problem I hadn't thought of before.

For the first time in _years _I felt a tremor of trepidation at what I was about to do.

My sharp teeth bit into the marble smoothness of my lip almost unconsciously as I wondered if I could actually kill one of these wolves. My worry had nothing to do with the act of killing.

What troubled me was even though as a vampire I was strong, brute killing strength I did not possess.

This was going to be tricky. I would have to concentrate on maintaining my mental pain inducing skill on him whilst physically obliterating him. And I'd have to do this fast, before his howls alerted the others, or even the Cullens.

Only a half minute had passed as I contemplated this. The sunlight had broken through the thick cover of clouds again but my large Volturi cloak ensured that I wasn't reflecting its glare. A shining vampire could be seen from long distances by those who knew what to look for...like the all knowing Quileutes. Or the Cullens...

Squaring my delicate shoulders, I began slowly stalking toward the weakened wolf.

I had taken two steps toward the creature when to my shocked amazement, the squirming wolf melted away in a hazy shimmer and a man assumed its place. His bare body was crumpled in a fetal position as he uttered guttural groans of torment.

In my surprise I stopped my advance completely. For a surreal moment, I became thoroughly distracted by the transformation. Yet I automatically kept my glowing red eyes on the human. Two centuries of inflicting torture ensured that I always maintained my defenses no matter how strenuous the situation. This wasn't strenuous at all even without the added protection of the other Volturi. This was..._magical_. That almost invisible swirl of form changing energy erupting from the wolf was unlike anything I had ever seen. And I'd seen a lot...

Then I realized that the pain was so intense that he couldn't keep his wolf form through it. The corners of my lips curled into a menacing smile. He just made my job so much easier. No matter how entranced I had been by the wolf's transformation, I was almost eager to see if I could actually kill him.

What if I lost my concentration on him and he changed back into the wolf? Would I be able to overpower him physically? But his bare body was still contorting in agony on the grass. Unblinkingly maintaining my focus on him, I took another step forward. Time to end this...

In that moment, he opened his eyes and stared directly at me. When his eyes met mine, something like recognition flitted through his gaze and as he continued to stare at me, the strangest thing happened.

The grimace on his face smoothed out and he slowly sat up!

Immediately I scanned the area, certain that Bella Cullen was around somewhere, shielding him.

But I sensed nor scented any other vampiric presence other than my own. I felt no sense of relief from this observation. No one, except that Cullen bitch, was supposed to resist my power!

Disbelievingly I looked back at the wolf man and his copper toned face was now alight, his expression as he stared at me now one of fervor.

What was this?!

Try as I might, I could not make him suffer!

He actually held his hand out to me and spoke my name.

"Jane."

In that moment, I felt fear. I, Jane, one of the Volterra's most offensive weapons, was cold with fear.

I did the only thing I could.

I spun around and I fled.

And despite my haste, I still heard the soundless transformation behind me, that of the man shape shifting and immediately pursuing me.

A shape shifter I could not defend myself against.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: Don't own Twilight**

**Chapter 3**

**_Seth_**

A thousand thoughts fought for dominance inside my fried brain but only one resounded repeatedly, loud and clear.

I JUST IMPRINTED ON A VAMPIRE!

Fuck!

I was certain I'd never run as speedily as this in my wolf form as I feverishly hunted..._her._

I knew I should immediately return to the reservation for reinforcements. Should update Jake and Sam about this situation.

Yet I continued at my furious pace, determined not to let her get away.

I could see her just ahead of me now, her heavily cloaked form misting and nimbly darting around the huge pines and firs.

Just a few huge leaps...I lunged toward her yet stopped myself short of clasping her.

Damn, my huge paws could hurt her. I growled in frustration. I needed to capture her without hurting her.

I wondered why she didn't take to the trees, she could have easily eluded me then. I just felt grateful that she avoided that method of escape.

Then I saw where she was headed, towards a cliff falling away to the ocean. If she jumped there, I'd lose her for sure.

And I couldn't let that happen.

Desperation triumphed over my reason as I swiftly leapt forward, and tried as gently as I could under the circumstances to get a hold of her.

Just like that, I had her beneath me, my paws keeping her shoulders pinned to the forest floor while I kept my huge, panting wolf form hovering over her, careful not to hurt her...a Volturi who tried to kill me.

But that didn't matter now.

She began to screech and hiss at me, heaving her slender arms to dislodge my grip but I had her firmly secured.

I immediately wanted to release her.

Because that's what she wanted.

Yet I needed to communicate with her but how, how do I do this?

She'll kill me!

Suddenly she became very still, closing her red, red eyes, practically becoming a statue. Frantically I thought I'd hurt her and in my worry, my huge paws relaxed their grip. In that instant she gave one heave and I was catapulted off her and into the nearest tree. I leapt up, shaking off the minor bruising I'd sustained and stalked toward her.

We began to circle each other warily. I was so close that we both knew if she tried to run again, I'd grab her.

Determining I was perhaps the biggest fool ever, I morphed back into my human form.

* * *

Then I remembered I had no clothes. Heated blood rushed to my cheeks and I glimpsed at her. She..Jane..had the most furious scowl imaginable on her pixie like features yet she never even glanced down at me. I felt relief at her not paying that attention to me then a bit disappointed that she didn't notice me. In that way.

Yeah so here I am thinking she didn't check me out instead of thinking about the critical situation here. Namely that I was at my most vulnerable and she could easily kill me now.

"You'll die now, dog!" She said as if reading my mind.

I froze at the sound of her clear, high voice ringing across the deep tenseness between us. The sound was completely in contrast to her words. Her lilting voice was like a soft, musical caress. It was a voice made for speaking the sweetest endearments. But I couldn't concentrate on that now. She needed to hear what I had to say.

"J-Jane please! There's something you need to know first."

She began stalking towards me as if I'd never spoken.

"I should leave now but you'll die just for being an annoyance. Not too mention disrupting my plans. She scoffed."As if I need to explain myself to you!"

"Jane, please just listen for one minute, please!"

"Stop saying my name, mongrel!"

"Just a few seconds then!"

She could have easily flitted to me and kill me swiftly. Yet she just continued in a slow crouch as if wary of me transforming again.

And the tragic thing was, I'd rather she kill me now than transform and I hurt her.

How fucked up was this.

"Aren't you curious why you can't make me feel that pain thing you do."

She hesitated at this. And became the statue again. Oh oh. Did this mean she was about to spring at me?

If this was to be the last moment in my life, I never would have guessed that I'd _want_ it to be of this dainty, ethereal female vampire standing before me, her serene face faintly shimmering in the spots of sunlight filtering from the towering trees.

Seems my last moment might be sappy too.

There was a light wind drifting and something in her face altered slightly. It was the look in her eyes. Her red, glowing eyes. The unnatural colour should have made emotions hard to read yet I could detect the change in her.

She shifted slightly, her small body disguised by the heavy cloak. Ever so subtly, she tilted her chin and daintily sniffed the air between us. I could hardly describe the look that came over her face. It was one of pleasure, or hunger or both. She'd hardly glanced at me before, a mixture of fear and boredom had masked her pale features. Now she looked at me with a fierce expression in her glowing eyes as if I was some long lost treasure or something. I couldn't help grinning a little. Maybe her intense gaze would have freaked the hell out of some one else, no it most definitely would have but the way she looked at me so hungrily was...kinda hot. The forest air was abnormally still around us as we stood there for a few seconds or hours. With my attuned hearing, I heard her whisper,

"Not _him_."

I had no time to think about her brief statement. Where she had slowly been advancing to kill me before , now she was instantly in front of me, within a half blink of an eye.

Her eyes were fixed on the pulsing artery at the base of my throat with this oh so hungry gaze...and then it hit me that she _thirsted_ for my blood. As soon as I thought of that, of my blood making her hungry, I felt my cock stiffen. Nothing could have prevented that intense rush of pleasure thrumming through me, not even my shock that I imprinted on a vampire, my natural enemy who should be repulsed by me just as I was supposed to be by her. Repulsed was the very last thing I was feeling right now...

When her chilled lips touched my throat, caressed it like a kiss, I groaned without even thinking about it. A deep throaty groan of pure bliss.

Then a sharp, brief pain and she was sucking me. And I was so hard beneath her. Shock and desire were racing side by side through my veins as she fed from me with abandon. I'd crumpled to the forest floor and she followed me down, gripping me tightly, her marble limbs splayed over mine.

Had anything ever felt so good?

Can't remember...


	4. Chapter 4

**Thank you for your reviews :) **

Characters/content belong to Stephenie Meyer

**Chapter 4**

**_Jane_**

Time seem suspended as I feasted on what was the most luscious tasting blood ever. All blood had been the same to me...until now. I'd heard of something like this a few times where a vampire was drawn to a particular human's blood above any other.

_My blood singer._

One moment I'd been intent on killing him, not that my intent had changed, then I caught a whiff of his scent. It'd hit me so suddenly that the fact that a wolf's scent was naturally repelling to my kind hadn't crossed my mind then. There was that animal taint to his smell yet it was intermingled with a deep, woodsy aroma that over rode the wolf smell. This aroma totally eclipsed the distinctive smell of his kind, it instantly made my mouth pool with venom, sharpened my ever present yearning to more than the usual thirst. Drinking his blood was so much more than that mere satisfaction. I feasted on him as if my life depended on it, as if I would die if I did not draw every single drop I could manage into me. I had never wanted anything so badly as his blood in my two hundred years as a vampire. The solid strength of my body should have surely crushed him, lying as he was beneath me...I could have easily ripped him apart just for a taste. If he'd been fully human...

So sweet...so good...

Through my intense feeding, I was vaguely aware that the heat of his body felt almost as hot as a furnace but without flames, as I lay sprawled atop him. Surprisingly for me, it was a pleasant feeling yet it was his blood that _sang_ to all my enraptured senses. And it was more warm than an average human's and his heart beat so fast! A normal man would be dead beneath me by now but his blood continued to flow deep and hot in my mouth.

The abnormal heated flow sent tingles of awareness from the tip of my tongue as I lapped at his throat to everywhere along the path of my cold body his hot blood touched. Hot tingles in my mouth, the length of my throat and into my stomach...and the taste of it incited a deep..._pleasure_. A pleasure more deep than the first time I tasted any human blood...pleasure even deeper than the first time I used my power as a vampire.

In those moments as I feasted upon him, his blood was everything to me. Nothing else mattered.

Normally at feeding times in Volterra, Aro enjoyed feasting on struggling, scared humans and that is what I was accustomed to. But he lay so still beneath me, no not still, more like languid. As if he welcomed this.

I was so fixated on my frenzied feeding that the signals of impending danger slipped by me completely. By the time the heavy footfalls registered on my distracted brain, it was too late.

I was wrenched away from the wolf man by another wolf which had come up behind me. This is what it must feel like to be unexpectedly drenched in a torrent of melted snow while experiencing the most pleasant dream. Shockingly, the first thought I had was not that my very life was in danger but that I was not tasting _him_ anymore...

I struggled furiously as the large russet coloured creature dragged me by the arm away from him. Soon there was a circle of wolves surrounding me while the russet coloured one attempted to wrench off my arm. A shrill scream ripped reflexively from my throat.

Then I heard him shout. "Jake, NO!"

The man had gotten up and was running towards us, the expression on his face one of sheer terror. The horrifying grip of this wolf's sharp teeth on my arm had effectively cleared my mind from the frenzy of bloodlust. I was now extremely confused by the man's defense of me. Didn't he want to kill me like the rest of his pack? Apparently the other wolves were even more flabbergasted than I was as they diverted their attention to him for a moment. I glanced at my arm in the huge wolf's mouth suddenly _very_ concerned at the severity of my present situation. My arm had almost disappeared in the cavernous jaw, gripped tightly as it was by the foul creature's teeth.

And these other wolves were as repelling as I expected them to be.

The wolves instantly surrounded me as the wolf that had me, threw me into the center of the pack. I looked up right into the muzzle of a huge, dark one, it's sharp teeth inches away from my face.

I instinctively focused on it and then the wolf sagged to the ground, howling balefully. Immediately the other wolves made to lunge at me and I knew I couldn't focus on all of them at the same time, knew that impending death was staring me in the face.

Then as if I hadn't found myself just a few moments ago practically ravishing a _wolf_ for his blood, the most unexpected thing happened.

The man morphed into his wolf and lunged at the others, effectively blocking them away from me and growling fearsomely. His violent movements propelled me away from him where I landed flat on my back in the ferny undergrowth. It was very strange...feeling the wind knocked out of me. It wasn't a sensation that would be normal to any vampire except perhaps in combat. And I never had any need before to be in direct combat...

There was a chorus of long howls as the wolves glanced at each other, their movements seeming for all the world confused. My furry blood singer turned and looked at me. They all stared at me. I was accustomed to making others experience discomfort with just a glance but their pointed gazes on me was making me increasingly uncomfortable. Not just from the fact that they could all overpower me and end me quite easily. There was a certain...awareness I detected about their intense perusal of me that I thought had nothing to do with my feared power.

Another chorus of howls and it seemed as if they had come to a decision as all of them veered off except...him.

I couldn't help but marvel how even when in his wolf form, his smell didn't repel me like the others. Of all the billions of people in this world my blood singer was a Quileute wolf. Ugh. My peers in Volterra would get a really good laugh from that one. I cringed to myself, imagining their reactions to my...lust for his blood.

Then I experienced that unfamiliar fear again. The wolf was walking towards me and I screamed silently to myself to get up...get up and face him. But I just lay there on the ground as he came closer, trying to stifle all the warning sirens going off in my head. The sun overhead made a large shadow of his wolf over me and I could feel his hot panting breaths as he stopped to stand just before me. Forcefully I kept my eyes open, watching him cautiously even when I wanted to close them in my increasing horror. Never had I felt more vulnerable...

* * *

**_Seth_**

I had to force myself to not just scoop her up and run far away from here. Reining in my anger at how close Jake had come to killing her, I still continued to growl furiously. Then I strutted over to her, still in my wolf form.

She lay in a dishevelled heap on the forest floor, her eyes wide and pinned on me. She looked for all the world, afraid.

The one I'd kill for, die for was afraid of me.

Within half a minute the others returned in their human form. Jake, Sam, Paul, Embry and Jared, all jogging towards us, the menace on their faces not lessened one iota by my revelation.  
Jake came up beside me, tossing me a pair of shorts.

"Seth are you ok?"

I purposely ignored his gesture for me to phase and moved closer to Jane, bowing my head aggressively as the others approached closer. In my peripheral vision, I could see that she was slowly sitting up from her perch on the grass. No way was I going to change back now, not when they still wanted to kill her. The only thing stopping them was our 'legendary and absolute law' that the imprint of any wolf shall never be harmed.

But just looking at the set, fierce expressions on their faces I knew that in this instance, in _my_ instance, that law might as well be non existent. Damn it, no one was going to lay a paw on her...she's mine!

Sam glanced at Jane cautiously then turned to me. He spoke quietly, his voice laced with compassion."I'm sorry Seth. But we believe it's too dangerous. We have to make an exception to the rule."

My only response was a deep, low growl as I shifted even closer to her.

Jake piped up. "Hold on, Sam. This is his imprint we're talking about here. We have to at least try to come to some other solution..."

"She 's not only a fucking leech but from the Volturi for heaven's sake. We've got to kill her!" Paul interrupted with a snarl.

My huge wolf form shook violently as I roared with rage. In a flash, Jane was up off the ground and facing them, that deadly glimmer shining in her eyes.

I immediately stood in front of her, blocking her view of them and pushing her gently back with my large, furry body. Her eyes flashed on me and she hissed angrily between her teeth.

"Get. Away. From. Me. Now." She enunciated each word slowly and distinctly.

_Not a chance._

I was glad I hadn't changed back so that I could use my strength if she persisted in doing them harm. I could hear Paul, Embry and Jared breathing harshly, ready to change. I growled softly at Jake, begging him to allow me a chance to at least attempt to calm her down.

Jake whispered, "Guys give him a minute. He's got this."

Paul spat on the floor."And risk ourselves while he's at it."

To my surprise, Sam said firmly, "Wait, Paul."

I almost sagged with relief that they were giving me this chance. I just needed to do something fast to prevent any more harm being done.

An idea was beginning to form in my head...

Jane continued to seethe at me and now her small hands began to claw and push at me in her bid to escape us. I frantically growled at Jake, relaying to him that he phase so I could communicate with him privately.

He phased at once, his shorts ripping to pieces.

The moment our wolf minds connected Jake got an inkling of my plan. He snapped, _"Seth no! Are you crazy?"_

"_I don't see any other way...if she goes back, she'll bring the entire Volturi down on us, I've got to convince her somehow of our connection and the only way to do that is to keep her away from the Volturi … and from here."_

"_She'll kill you! You can't just run away with her, keeping her until she sees your side of the story."_

I huffed. Jane hadn't let up one bit in her struggles yet I managed to keep her from doing me any serious injury by pushing her down and enclosing her underneath me, firmly pressing down on her arms. I hated doing that but she was giving me no choice...

"_I'm strong enough."_

Jacob's bark sounded like a scoff. Because that's what it was.

"_You can hardly contain her now. The only way you manage to is because obviously she doesn't have any fighting skills...you can't keep this up, bro. You need to sleep, you need to eat...and she doesn't."_

"_WHAT DO YOU SUGGEST I DO! Huh? She's my imprint, I don't have any other choice. It' s easy for you now, Jake. I have to try...I just...I won't be able to live with myself if I just don't try."_

"_I can't let you sacrifice yourself for her, Seth. Wait! How come she isn't incapacitating you?"_

"_She did. Then the most amazing thing...when I imprinted it's like I just became immune to her power to hurt me. I have no idea how that happened...but cool, right?"_

"_Huh. The fact still remains that she has the advantage of inhuman capabilities that you DON'T have..she'll kill you. And...and I can't allow that."_

"_It's not your choice! This is my decision, whether you think it's a mistake or not, it's my choice to make."_

"_Seth..."_

"_No Jake...you know if this were you and Renesmee, you know what you'd do. And you sure as fuck wouldn't let anyone command that you can't do otherwise."_

Jake whimpered a bit.

"_You can't compare our circumstances..."_

"_Screw circumstances! She's my imprint, Jacob. My. Imprint."_

He bowed his head a little then faced me, his large wolf eyes glistening slightly.

"_You're right. If this is what you believe is right..."_

"_I do..I have to..no I need to try this."_

"_Be careful, Seth."_

I nodded gruffly, then concentrating on how to do this, I opened my mouth wide over Jane. She stopped struggling at once, and her eyes glazed over with fear, certain that I was about to end her. It hurt to realize my imprint viewed me as someone who'd murder her instead of the vision I'd always had of my imprint seeing me as her ultimate protector.

And lover.

Sighing internally, I scooped her up between my teeth. She's such a tiny little thing. She immediately went limp yet vampires don't get unconscious right?

I speedily veered off in a sprint and behind me I heard the shocked gasps of the rest of the guys. Jacob had shifted back and was telling them, "Leave him be..."

The rest of his words trailed off as I madly dashed away, anxiously seeking to get as far away from the home I could't wait to return to just two short weeks ago. Running away cradling a limp female vampire in my huge jaw. My imprint.


	5. Chapter 5

**Characters/content belong to the world of Stephenie Meyer...sniff, sniff...wipes tear...**

**Please review! : )**

Chapter 5

_Jacob_

In all my relatively short experience with vampires, _nothing _could have prepared me for the sight of that.

I'd just been running through the dense forested area on my way to Sam's after spending some time with Renesmee when I'd detected that odor cutting through the natural scents of the forest. Automatically I'd leapt into my wolf, not recognizing that particular vampire at all. I'd been a bit frantic that some stray vamp had intruded on our land and I knew Seth was on a customary patrol.

Turned out I'd been right to be frantic and then some.

Nothing could have prepared me for coming upon one of the most confounding scenarios I'd ever witnessed. It took me a moment to digest it in.

A Volturi vamp was lying across a naked Seth, _drinking_ from him.

I'd recovered myself and ferociously tore her way from him, wondering in a panic if I'd reacted too late to save him.

Then all pandemonium had broken loose. Sam and the others had been alerted to a strange vampire in the area as well and had joined me within seconds of me confiscating the Volturi vamp.

What a mess.

Of all the creatures, Seth had imprinted on that Volturi witch!

We'd all missed him when he went away with Leah and everyone had been surprised when he came back to the reservation more mature. I mean we'd expected him to age as he broke from the pack but it was still unsettling to see this young man who we all remembered fondly as our little brother now being older than us. It took almost everything in me to not use my alpha command and to watch him run off with that creature, knowing he'll probably never return.

But I'd owed it to him to let him make his own decision recalling how he'd stood by me when I'd broken from Sam's pack only a few years before.

Sam and the guys had been rearing to chase after them but as Seth had still insisted on me being his alpha when he'd reclaimed his wolf heritage, it was ultimately my decision. They had been forced to allow my edict on the situation. They'd been disgusted and angered that I hadn't commanded him to stay and at this point, I could hardly disagree with them. Heck, I was angry that I'd allowed him to go yet I could never force him to stay.

Almost in a trance, I salvaged one of the extra pairs of shorts from the cache I had hidden in the woods.

Right now, all I could do was turn to the Cullens for their help on what to do next.

* * *

Renesmee flew down the steps at my approach, her bronze tresses bouncing on her slender back as she flew into my waiting arms. I held her close to me, tightening my arms about her. A pang of deep pity surged through me as I thought of Seth and his ...imprint.

"That was fast. I mean, I know you're fast Jake but even this is a record for you."

She leaned back to gaze at my face and the lovely smile tilting her heart shaped lips slipped a little as she took in my expression.

"Jake, what's wrong?"

I merely looked at her, the sole source of my joy in life, my reason for living. Five years old and she was already a young woman due to her hybrid parentage. And I was madly in love with her.

I sighed heavily.

"There's an emergency I need to discuss with the rest of the family."

Edward came out the door then. By the grave expression on his face, I knew he'd got a run down of the situation from my mind.

He gestured for us to come inside which we promptly did with Renesmee gripping my hand tightly. I squeezed her slim hand reassuringly.

Bella was standing by the large glass window facing the forest and the rest of the Cullen couples were stationed about the spacious, pale living room.

Carlisle spoke first, "What's going on?"

"Well, um...see..."

Edward said abruptly, disbelief lacing his every word.

"Seth imprinted on Jane Volturi."

I'd never seen such comical expressions of shock on any vamp's face. I would have laughed if the circumstances weren't so serious.

Bella broke the ensuing shocked silence.

"What?!"

"I always knew he liked vampires but damn..." Emmett snickered while blondie gave him an exasperated glance.

"How?" Jasper whispered wonderingly as Alice screwed her nose daintily.

Carlisle and Esme just stared in shock. He whispered,

"Tell us everything."

So I quickly updated them on the extraordinary events of this morning.

Carlise and Edward glanced at each other worriedly.

I finished by stating urgently.

"You guys have got to help him. I mean he might not even defend himself against her is she attacks him. But if you guys found them, you could, I don't know, help him with her somehow."

Jasper muttered, "What I can't guess is why they'd allow her to come alone, not even one guard. Doesn't make sense."

"Maybe they didn't want to alert us and thought she could slip past my visions..which she did especially as Seth has imprinted on her. Never have been able to see you guys."Alice whispered.

Bella said harshly, "We can't allow her to return to Volterra. She'll bring the entire guard back here."

She glanced worriedly at her daughter. I instinctively growled low in my throat.

Carlisle spoke absently, his ocher eyes staring into space, deep in thought.

"They'll come anyway, Bella. When they see she hasn't returned."

There was a chorus of groans. Edward walked over to Bella, enclosing her in his arms and they both glanced at Renesmee.

I said, "That's why you need to find him...and her. It's a start, find out what she was looking for in Forks then we can figure out the rest from there."

Carlisle nodded,"You're right, we need to get to them before she overwhelms him and escapes or worse yet..."

He trailed off but we all knew what was left unspoken. We needed to get to them before she killed him.

* * *

_Volterra_

The three ancient vampires sat unmoving on their equally ancient thrones on the raised dais. At any one time there were a number of guards milling about the perimeter of the vast, stone room, their red gazes always alert though it would be impossible for anyone to breach this fortress.

Caius hissed quietly, "Any word yet?"

Aro smiled slightly, "She's only been gone a day, dear brother."

"I still say we should have sent some guards with her. At least Felix and Alec. I believe his simpering grief is annoying me no end."

Marcus drawled in his crackly paper monotone, " But why Aro? Why send Jane, one of our strongest assets, unprotected?"

Aro smiled, "All in good time, brothers, all will be revealed. But for now, know that I will possess those which I crave and when Jane has accomplished what I sent her to do then we strike."


	6. Chapter 6

**Characters belong to Stephenie Meyer**

Chapter 6

* * *

**Jane**

I opened my eyes to notice in every vivid detail the canopy of thick entangled branches above me. Immediately I darted up with a gasp. What was that? Never in all my time as a vampire had I ever been unconscious. Excluding our transformation from human to vampire, I'd never even witnessed another vampire experiencing anything like that.

I scented him before I saw him, spinning around swiftly so I could face him.

He stood just a few yards away from me, his sculpted arms folded against his bare chest. He was in his human form, thankfully outfitted in a pair of shorts. I was surprised at the level of relief I experienced to discover he was no longer in his wolf form. It was not at all pleasant to have such a fear. Nothing had ever made me so fearful since...our change two centuries ago.

To my amazement, he unfolded his arms and strode towards me, coming to stand just a few inches before me. No creature whether it be human or vampire with Alec being an exception, had ever just boldly invaded my personal space without my permission like he just did. Not my Volturi vampires, not even my master. Though I'd lived with them for centuries, they'd still had that manner of being uncomfortable being too close to me. And they had every reason to be. Unlike this young wolf. How infuriating!

The previous fear I had felt upon knowing he was _somehow_ immune to my power was being morphed into distinct annoyance and anger...

His long fingers grazed the spot where I'd bitten, drawing my eyes to that area. I quickly looked at his face and realized by his smug expression he did this very deliberately. Damn him! My eyes went to his sturdy neck again and I licked my lips, hardly aware I was doing it. I noticed him gulp a little as I leaned in just a bit closer.

He smelled so good!

"Are you thirsty, Jane?"

His inquiry felt oddly intimate to me. It certainly couldn't have felt normal to him, asking me something like that. Fleetingly I wondered what he thought of my...craving for his blood. He seemed willing enough to accommodate me. But _why_ should he be? Yet just the mere thought of him offering me his blood intensified the dry aching in my throat. I couldn't ever remember feeling so thirsty, craving to feed so much. I hadn't had enough before we were interrupted...

It took all of my willpower not to lunge at him right now. His blood was singing to me again. No, not merely singing. His blood _sang_ to me with a full choir and violin quartet! With what little rationality was left in me, I could see where he was heading with this. The only reason he could be offering me his blood was to distract me, perhaps so that he could kill me. It still didn't make any sense. If he wanted me dead why did he prevent the other wolves from killing me? And the way he stared at me as if he was _attracted_ to me. Well mutt, you sure know how to pick them. Whatever his motive was I wouldn't let it come to fruition.

"I'll still kill you, you know. You can't tempt me...with your blood." I wondered of he could tell that I was blatantly lying. Not about killing him...I still had every intention of doing so...but about the tempting part.

"If you kill me, you'll never taste blood like mine again." His voice was really husky and rough, and deep. It was kind of strange to me, accustomed as I was to the somewhat high, musical voices of my fellow Volturi. His eyes were boring into mine and his direct gaze unnerved me. I didn't allow myself to return his gaze. I had no time for deluded wolves.

But he was so damned ...cocky. How in the hell would he know I wouldn't encounter blood like his again? Then I thought of the decades of drinking other humans' blood...and how paltry all that blood seemed to the intoxication of just one taste of his. Drinking his blood gave me a glimpse at what an alcoholic must endure. How could you want to stop drinking when the source of your addiction rendered everything else totally tasteless and mundane?

"And I can heal...I can give it to you anytime you want." His copper toned cheeks became tinted with crimson and it made me even more thirsty, if that was possible.

He added self-consciously, "My blood...I mean I can give you my blood."

He stepped even closer to me. His scent drifted all over me, I didn't need to breathe but oh I wanted to...breathe in breath after breath of his scent. Never had I experienced such acute pleasure as that taste, pleasure so deep it was embarrassing to me. Knowing what he was and normally that he should be suffering beneath my hands now. I became angered that he, this creature I should naturally hate, could try to manipulate me like this.

"Why you? Why can't I harm you...why can't I..."

I closed my mouth before the horrendous words could slip out. Why was it so hard toresist him? Desperately I stopped breathing, trying to eradicate his scent so I could escape once and for all. I was so desperate to get out of here and away from the forbidden temptation of his blood, that I was inclined not to even bother with killing him. He was in his human form, I could escape him easily.

But he fished out a pocket knife and sliced his skin with the blade. My mouth fell open at his blatant boldness...and at the scent of that blood...

Roughly he gasped, "Drink, Jane!"

I inhaled sharply and backed up a step but he followed, his chest brushing against me as he leaned forward, the crimson droplets beginning to drip down his skin.

I couldn't think.

I could only do.

I gripped his shoulders, pulled him to me and I drank.

* * *

I didn't know how much time had passed after I had my fill of him. Now he was unconscious beside me and his blood still coursed a warm path through my unnatural body.

I was thinking I could kill two birds with one stone as that saying goes.

Yet right now I was a bit curious and satisfied in an unfamiliar, contented way. I'd never really felt so serene after feeding, yes the blood was always good but feeding had just been a means to satisfy my hunger, the feeding sessions had just blurred into a series of monotonous rituals.

I was in a rare, languid mood and feeling indulgent enough to allow my curiosity. No human had ever survived my thirst and I chose this moment to examine him closely.

His body was so hot, very feverish next to mine where I lay on the damp forest floor beside him. And though unconscious, his heart still continued to beat a strong, steady rhythm, and I could feel the blood coursing through his body.

I decided to concentrate on something other than that.

Tentatively I laid my hand on his arm and felt his skin. I gasped. The heat of his skin sent a jolt through my chilled hand, it felt so foreign to a good way.

Hesitantly I glided my hand along the smooth bulge of his arm then along the defined ridges of his bare stomach. I'd never touched any human like this, if he could be classified as a human. Absently I thought the texture of his skin was somewhat soothing against mine.

What really occupied my mind was a strategy for fulfilling Aro's wishes and not returning to Volterra having failed at what I was sent to accomplish.

In my estimation, I believed this young wolf was in some baffling way infatuated with me. How or why was not the uppermost concern in my mind. What really mattered was that I would use his infatuation to help me gain what I really wanted. Always I prided myself on surpassing Aro's expectations of me. I'd never failed him in all my time in Volterra, disregarding what happened with those vampires a little while ago. The mere mention of the name Cullen always vehemently rankled me.

I decided I wouldn't fail Aro now.

Besides I wanted to taste _him_ again. I firmly convinced myself that this want of mine was just an added benefit to my strategy and not one of the main reasons for my decision to not kill him now.

The wolf's heart suddenly sped up and my hand froze on his rigid stomach. I met his eyes as he stared at me.

This was the first time since our haphazard meeting that I really got a good look at his eyes. They were a really deep brown. Then he did something that really shocked me. His face crinkled into the widest smile ever as he continued to stare intensely at me. No one had ever continued to shock me in such a short space of time.

In a flash I yanked my hand off him, darting away from my position on the floor beside him in a fraction of a second. I hadn't expected him to recover this fast, had intended to not be that close to him when he revived.

He sat up slowly, watching me warily and stood up, towering over me. He had to be easily six and a half feet compared to my five feet in height, and though I knew I could overpower him easily, in his human form, I still felt a bit intimidated as he stood above me. Not that I will let him know that I felt this way.

Squaring my shoulders and lifting my chin, I said imperiously, not really caring in the least for his reply. "Will you change into some ridiculous were wolf vampire creature now that I've fed from you?"

He frowned a bit. "I should hope not."

Then he added, "It's a known thing that my...species don't react well to your, uh..venom."

He said this so casually as if it were a mere afterthought and not something that greatly concerned him. Frowning slightly, I wondered why he appeared so...eager to please me. I distinctly recalled something one of the other wolves mentioned earlier and I wondered if is strange attitude towards me was somehow connected to that.

"What did that other wolf mean when he said I was your imprint, mongrel?!" I asked imperiously. He hesitated, his tall frame tensing at my abrupt question. Irritation filled me again. If he wasn't immune to me, I could get him to answer me that much more quickly...

He nervously rubbed the back of his head. His thick, ebony hair was on the verge of needing to be sheared yet the look suited him. I brushed that inconsequential thought aside, focusing on how he seemed anxious now.

"Uh..well...my name is Seth you know."

"Well _Seth_," I pronounced his name with deliberate saccharrine sarcasm, "I would like to know."

He sobered instantly, regarding me with a solemnity now, all traces of cheerfulness gone from his exotic, expressive features.

"I think there's a lot we need to discuss first before we go into that. I mean, what are you doing here?"

If it's one thing that aggravated me, it was being questioned. I tolerated interrogation from no one except my master. And no one else ever dared to, not even my dear brother Alec. I was the one who interrogated, I was the one who demanded. I felt my patience slowly disintegrating and right on cue, he..._Seth_... prodded further.

"You need to let me know why you came to Forks, Jane. Then I can answer any question you might have."

He spoke my name with a casual familiarity I would tolerate from no human, much less one of his revolting kind. Instinctively, I levelled my pain filled glance on him...and nothing. Still nothing! Not being able to utilize my power made me feel so defenseless with him. Could I really go through with this? Play along with his infatuation to get what I want? I thought of returning to Volterra and seeing the gloating smugness of the guards and Aro's disappointment.

Stifling my internal shudder, I forced myself to smile at the man before me. He tentatively smiled back, his cheek dimpling and he bowed his head as that crimson flush spread across his cheeks.

I was adept at a lot of things but this was out of my experience, no matter how long I'd existed but my smile seemed to have been the right move. Let me attempt this again.

"Seth, I just needed to escape and I didn't know where else to go." Really, is that the best thing I could have devised? Of course, I'd escape to the place where my vampiric rivals dwelled.

Yet Seth didn't delve into the ramifications of what I said. Instead concern flashed across his face and he came up to me, placing his large, warm hands on my shoulders.

"What did they do to you?"

I looked away from the intense worry blatantly shining from his dark eyes. I couldn't exactly pin point why but I could not continue to meet his gaze as I fabricated my story. Unblinkingly staring at the deep murky greens of the surrounding foliage, I uttered softly, "I suppose I have grown tired of their lifestyle and want to try something different."

When I said this, he spoke so eagerly, his words seemed to run into each other. "I can help you! We can go get help from my friends, the Cullens..."

"No!" I couldn't help my shrill hiss. This was going in the wrong direction.

He nodded understandingly, his voice suddenly soothing. "I know you'd feel uncomfortable approaching them, you know, given you guys history. But once they understood you wanted to change your lifestyle to break away from the Volturi, I'm certain they'd give you a chance, Jane."

Stifling my terror and anxiety, I forced myself to relax and continue to work on him. "Would it be fine if it's just you and I for a while? Please?"

Seth nodded at once. "Whatever you want." His deep voice echoed with an unfamiliar tone to me. One of sheer joy.

Making sure to determine my facade was as authentic as possible, I carefully wrapped my arms around his bare waist and hugged him. His blood was still thrumming through me even as I heard his heart thundering so it wasn't difficult for me to be against him now. But it was sort of awkward. Hugging him like this. I'd never really been this close to any living being except to feed...and kill.

But so far, so good.

He returned my embrace at once, his well defined arms enclosing me to him.

Then he shocked me yet again.

His lowered his mouth right to my ear and whispered. "I know you're lying."


	7. Chapter 7

**Note: In this fic Jane is also older, turned at seventeen.**

**Thank you so much for your reviews, please continue to review :)**

Characters belong to Stephenie Meyer

Chapter 7

_Seth_

So it'd been about three days now since I'd been on the run with Jane. She refused to speak one word to me since I'd unsuccessfully tried yet again to find out why she'd been in Forks.

She had insisted we go back to the reservation and as much as I'd wanted to, we couldn't go back until I knew what her motives were. It was one thing to put myself in harm's way with her being my imprint by some twisted irony of fate. But I adamantly refused to place my brethren and their families in the path of her wrath.

So we continued to run in strained silence. We were almost to the Canadian border by now.

As we ran, the memory of beholding her as my imprint for the very first time kept flashing through my mind like a replay of a favourite movie. I'd been in such unbelievable pain, my whole form constricted by the excruciating burn of her power that my senses had been cut off completely. I didn't feel the grass beneath me, didn't hear my own tortured cries or see anything behind the tightly shut lids of my eyes. It was a miracle I had been able to open them at all through that pain. And how open they became! I barely had registered the fact that I was now in my human form, not even recalling the moment I'd phased. A first for me.

My eyes had stared unseeingly, everything had been a muted blur in my pain filled vision. The cloudy sky and vivid green of the towering trees had all been jumbled together, the vibrant colours smudged like a ruined painting. Then a splotch of black in the center of it all, a muddled pale face in that surrounding black.

Time seemed to be caught in a slowed crawl as I felt the torturous burning receding gradually. It seemed the more I kept my eyes fixated on that mysterious dark blot the less I burned. The splotched colours of the sky and trees had sharpened into their respective splendor again as the haziness of my vision cleared. Slowly, my vision began to sharpen back to its vivid clarity.

My restored sight stayed fixated on her face, every perfect, delicate feature searing into my mind with absolute clarity.

The flaming pain of her power had been burned away by something completely unexpected.

An electric shock zapped my entire being as our eyes connected. It felt as if my very soul was being electrocuted with lightening tendrils of static that invisibly sprung from the core of me and leapt straight toward her. As I stared at her, a fleeting glimpse of cold stone walls and a flash of bright, blazing fire seeped into my mind. That inexplicable vision was gone as quickly as it had come . Immediately I felt the cords of energy connecting us; solid threads of electric waves irrevocably tying me to her. Those pulsing bands of static had burned away the slow, torturous pain wracking me.

_Mine._

I wasn't even aware of rising up to stand before her, my eyes riveted on her face. In that moment she became everything I needed. I was a drowning man and she was my lifeline.

What seemed like countless times, I'd heard and seen recap after recap of the imprinting experience from my wolf peers both from what they struggled to describe and from the wolf pack mind link. But this experience had totally shocked me in every sense of the word. It was nothing of what I expected. And she was everything I now needed with every electrified fiber of my being.

Coming back to the present again, I glanced at her running in a blur beside me, wanting to keep my eyes trained on her all the time. But unable to as I had to veer my way through the towering trees. It'd be just my luck if I slammed headfirst into a tree while staring at her.

I remained mostly in my wolf form for the three days we were running, transforming back periodically to determine if she...needed me again.

The amazing fact that she craved my blood gave me a strange satisfaction, it pleased me to know that at least I provided something so vital to her. And I could hardly admit to myself that I enjoyed when she fed from me. It felt forbidden and...sensual. The rhythm of her mouth drawing blood from me, the proximity of her chilled body to my heat and just the way she acted like she couldn't get enough...it definitely did something to me. But she hadn't touched me since her last feeding three days ago.

As we methodically whooshed past the huge redwoods and frothy ferns, I shook my large, shaggy head wonderingly.

I hadn't really thoroughly processed what had occurred in the last few days. It was hard for me to contemplate that she had been one of our sworn enemies intent on our destruction. Obviously that hadn't changed where she was concerned but my entire perspective was irrevocably shattered form the moment I beheld her as my imprint.

It seemed so surreal, that something I'd been waiting on for what seemed like a long time, was right here in my grasp.

Imprinting was never a normal experience but I think it'd be safe to say that we, Jane and I, were the first pairing of this kind. Never having really felt the deep aversion to vampires that my peers went through, I got along just fine with the Cullens who'd even become some of my closest friends. But imprinting on a vampire was really a stretch. Yet even now, with her studiously acting as if I didn't exist and being unable to...touch her ...I could only be grateful I was with her, no matter the circumstances.

She stopped so suddenly that I had run ahead a few yards before I realized. Abruptly screeching to a halt, I swivelled around and trotted back to her, gazing down at her questioningly.

It was almost a relief to hear that bell like voice again.

"Change, now!"

I didn't hesitate. I went behind the nearest redwood tree, these suckers were huuuuge, and keeping her always in my sight, I phased quickly, sliding on a spare set of trousers that I'd raided from Jacob's cache. He'd considerately let me know the various places where he'd hidden spare clothes and I'd availed myself of these before we left Forks territory.

I walked to her now, my heart picking up a frantic pace as she regarded me impassively. Yet on closer inspection of her pale, delicate features, I noted a panicked look in her red gaze.

Anxiously I asked, "What is it?"

"It's the Cullens...about four of them...and your friend." She spat furiously.

"Yeah, what about them?"

She spoke between her teeth, her voice brimming with hostility and impatience. "They're following us!"

I couldn't help the wide grin that broke out. Jane levelled me a death glare and my grin slipped a little.

"If they come any closer, I swear I'll kill you now and be out of here before your last breath!"

I never doubted her. Seeking to try and calm her, I placed my hands on her shoulders, rubbing her icy skin beneath the heavy cloak.

"It's ok. They won't hurt you."_ I won't let them,_ I added silently. No need to stoke her already raging animosity. And I truly believed they didn't come to harm her anyway.

Jane stared at my hands coldly until I unwillingly dropped them away from her.

"Tell them to stay away, Seth."

The look in her eyes intimidated me somewhat and the fleeting thought that she was a being centuries older than myself, that she had killed probably thousands of times, sobered me.

Still I had to gamble the risk of further displeasing her. Taking a deep breath, I said quickly, intending to make a bold statement yet somehow ending on a pleading note.

"I'll talk to them...only if you agree to tell me why you came to Forks in the first place?"

"Right now you are not in any position to bargain with me."

"And you won't be able to defend yourself, not with Bella's shield."

I'd never heard a snarl sound so dainty before. It was kinda cute. But the look on her face...

"Look, if you tell me the truth, I'll be able to hold them off and tell you anything you want to know about imprinting."

I couldn't believe I was about to say this but the words slipped out anyway.

"Maybe I could even help you with whatever your plans are." _As long as it didn't involve putting my Quileute brethren and the Cullens in danger but I was sure she didn't come here to visit for tea._

I myself could sense the others now. She'd been right on the count, I recognized the scents of Carlisle, Edward, Bella and Jasper, and Jacob in his wolf form.

Jane jerked away from me, panic clearly written on her face as she seemed to sense them drawing nearer as well. I fully intended to keep them back, I would not tolerate_ anyone _causing her this much distress. Yet I still pushed her.

"Just promise me, Jane. Just promise to tell me why."

She looked at me desperately and gave a sharp nod of her pale blond head.

I simply stared at her for a minute. Even fuming with irritation, she was beautiful to me. I wonder what her smile would look like...A minute turned into a longer moment until she cleared her throat delicately and began tapping her foot impatiently. I shook my head, grinning ruefully at her then disappeared behind the tree again.


	8. Chapter 8

******Author's note: I think the chemistry between Seth and Jane is soo strong...going to have to do something about that... ; )**

******Characters belong to Stephenie Meyer**

**__****Chapter 8**

**__****Jane**

I'd just resigned myself to my fate of tolerating this wolf so I could accomplish what I set out to do and now this.

I simply couldn't face the Cullens and their gifts if I were to achieve my mission. For the hundredth time I cursed inwardly that ___he_ had detected my presence prematurely. If he hadn't discovered me in that meadow, I could have been back at Volterra by now, safely ensconced with Alec, and most of all pleasing Aro with my success. _But I wouldn't have tasted that blood..._

I fiercely stifled that errant thought.

We were standing in the darkening woods as I intently watched him silently communing with his alpha. If he could just convince them that he had control of me, which I grudgingly had to admit that to a certain extent he did, not all would be lost.

At the least I would try my best to flee if he was unable to hold them off.

Now he turned his wolfen gaze on me then trotted back again to the tree where he soon emerged again in his human form. I sensed the retreating presences of those detestable vampires and his alpha yet I was still wary.

He spoke, "They'll leave us alone."

The way he said that it sounded as if he wanted to add something else yet refrained from doing so. Instead he exclaimed, "Now spill."

I contemplated his exclamation uncomprehendingly for the briefest moment then recognized his statement as a modern phrase. He wanted me to reveal what I promised to do.

___If you had just an inkling of how I'm really like, you'd know promises mean nothing to me whatsoever, you silly mongrel._

My senses remained fixed on the fading auras of the Cullens and when I was certain we were alone only then did I give my full attention to...Seth.

Of course I would not tell him what I really came to Forks to do. It would defeat my whole purpose of using him to carry out my mission. Because I was certain once he knew that I came to the Quileute reservation specifically to dispatch the two were wolf alphas thereby crippling the entire species, he'd most certainly try to get rid of me. Which to my ever present fury, he could accomplish more easily now that he was ___somehow_ immune to my power. And now that the Cullens were aware of my presence, I had to act quickly and carefully. There was no choice for it, I was determined to see my course. if I were to return to Volterra successfully, I knew I'd have to confront the Cullens ___and_ the Quileute packs now and that I had the monumental task of convincing them to believe that I had no sinister motive against them.

Now I was going to begin with Seth.

I smiled sweetly, gliding fluidly to him and reaching up to place my hands on his shoulders.

His tongue darted out of his full lips, touching his lower lip nervously. Yes he does seem to get easily distracted. That would be my weapon then, to keep him distracted.

And this right here, was proving to be the hardest thing to do, seeming even harder at this moment than facing the Cullens, even dealing with Bella's shielding ability.

In Volterra, I had witnessed physical intimacy, witnessed it between vampires, between vampire and human. Yet I hadn't participated in the sexual aspects of our feeding frenzies nor shared any intimacy with another vampire.

It had held no appeal to me. I was simply not interested in being anyone's mate and no one had ever affected me to the point where I wanted to experience intimacy.

Now I wish I had just a little of that experience firsthand but my past observations would have to guide me now. I told myself this was nothing to me. I was not a mere human girl with any sense of rigid moralistic rules to follow.

"You smell and feel so good to me, Seth."

I almost frowned when I realized what I said was ...the truth. To say his scent was enticing was a great understatement. It was resonant of the deepest, purest form of chocolate flavored with a spicy note of natural apple wood. The heady combination was like a physical embodiment in itself. It was an invisible hand grasping at me with strong, compelling fingers, drawing me towards him where I continuously wanted to nuzzle my face into the heated skin of his neck and never surface. Ah, damned blood singer...

As if the scent of him wasn't enough, the warmth of his body created a pleasant contrast against the coldness of mine, even through the layers of my voluminous cloak.

"Jane..." He seemed at a lost for words.

"Won't you hold me? Hold me, Seth."

Tentatively he wrapped his long arms around me, engulfing me in his embrace. He sighed then gently drew me to him, resting the side of his cheek against the top of my head. The way he held me caused my mouth to touch his bare chest.

I couldn't help myself.

I licked my lips.

Then I licked his hot skin.

"Mmmm..."

I would have been humiliated at the soft purring sound I made, if the scent of him didn't wholly command my senses so damned much.

He inhaled sharply and leaned back just a little, looking down at me and grasping my cheek, wanting to look at my face.

But I would not be moved one inch from where my tongue tasted him.

Clarity, Jane, clarity! I would never get anything done if I allowed my lust for his blood to dominate me so much.

Painstakingly I allowed his hand to guide my face away from his chest and I met his eyes.

Drowning in a pool of melted dark chocolate. That beguiling shade of his eyes was reminiscent of his intoxicating scent. And chocolate _was_ the one thing I wished I could consume if I could ingest food...

The longer we continued to stare at each other, the more my priorities seemed to be slipping away.

All the emotions I hadn't allowed myself to ever feel during my centuries as a vampire poured out from his gaze. Attraction, compassion, affection, consideration...it was too much.

I tore my eyes away from his and instead focused on the throbbing beat of his heart and the pulse of the blue artery visible just beneath his skin. I allowed the hunger to take control of my senses, anything to refute the unwanted effects of his eyes on me.

"Jane, look at me." His unfamiliar husky voice tugged at me, strengthening my urge to continue looking at him. Then annoyance rippled through me knowing that he was aware of his uncanny effect on me. Dammit, of all the creatures I felt a physical attraction to after two hundred odd years of feeling nothing of the kind for _anyone_, why did it have to be _him_?

"No."

I uttered that one word as dispassionately as I could, grateful that my vampire capabilities allowed me to convincingly disguise how much he'd affected me. I'd never had to test my abilities in this particular way and resentment tugged at me through my hunger induced befuddlement.

"___Look_ at me."

His deep voice reverberated all the way through me. Inexplicably, I could feel my complex mental defenses melting away in the face of the simple kindness and demonstrations of caring he'd shown me in the brief time we'd spent together. Every time I so much as glanced into his eyes, which was as little as possible, I experienced a mysterious pull that drew me towards him. Even his scent, the tone of his voice, his heat..they all combined to make me feel sensations that were unwelcome to me.

He was so physically dominating! Yet it was his persona that really intimidated me now.

I'd rather cope with his strong physicality to get what I wanted than tread in an unfamiliar ocean where I might drown and lose my purpose for being here. I was going to fight this strange emotional magnet that was Seth, tooth and nail if I had to.

More likely with lips and fingers.

Never in a million lifetimes had I imagined I'd ever be in a position like this. And that I'd find the prospect...appealing.

I stepped away from him, steadfastly trying to ignore the intensity with which he kept his eyes on me.

With one smooth shrug, my large, dark cloak slid to the thick undergrowth of the forest floor. It was now nightfall yet I knew he'd be fully able to see me with his extraordinary keen vision.

His eyes widened as he noticed my snugly fitted garments. Under our customary robes, Volturi could choose whatever clothing they felt comfortable in. My favourite garments to wear were soft cashmere turtlenecks that molded itself to my slender frame and typically an equally slim fitting denim trousers, and these are what I wore now.

Next, I released my hair from the tight chignon, allowing the pale tresses to flow down my back.

Slowly, my fingers gripped the hem of my shirt and I began to slide it up my stomach but Seth clamped his hands on top of mine. I froze.

"What are you doing?" He sounded as if he were choking.

"I want to please you, Seth." I cooed softly, somewhat relishing the shocked expression on his face.

"Jane, don't do this."

Instantly I was irritated. I thought he would want me I'd be able to turn the tables and control him, get him to do what I wanted him to do. Get him to take me to the reservation so that I could complete this cursed mission and hightail it back to Volterra. Now to have blatantly taken this step in my bid to distract him and have ___him _refuse ___me_ was just a bit too much for my fragile temper.

With lightening quick speed, I furiously backhanded him across his cheek, sending him careening to land several feet away from me. His brawny body thudded heavily into the thick undergrowth that surrounded us.

He lay on his back for a few seconds then sat up dazedly, his trembling hand going to his cheek, hovering there for the merest moment then falling back at his side. He sighed deeply then bowed his head between his arms, not even bothering to get up and face me.

I could feel myself getting even more incensed. How dare he disregard me like this! Everyone I'd encountered or known in my existence had always deferred to me, I always got what I wanted, when I wanted. Not that I wanted him, he was just a means to an end and was making everything harder that it was supposed to be. Who the hell did he think he was?

When I began to stalk towards him, he still didn't look up at me though I knew he sensed my approach. He had to be suicidal because in my raging fury and humiliation, I wanted to ___extirpate_ him right this minute.

Only when I was standing right above him did he raise his head. I'd expected to see fear, or even anger on his face. Instead he regarded me calmly with that maddening ___friendly _twinkle in his eyes___._

"Imprints never hit each other, Jane."

Just like that I felt the frostiness of my ferocity thawing by degrees. That mysterious word again. But it wasn't his baffling statement that affected me rather it was just absorbing that calm aura about him, that inexplicable devotion that emanated from him whenever we made direct eye contact. This strange...connection between us was another wholly separate sensation than my...admitted attraction to him. I needed to know what this was all about.

"What is an imprint?"

He suddenly sprung up so that I had to crane my neck to hold his gaze. I forcibly stifled my instinctive inclination to tear my eyes away from his. I would get to the bottom of this inane concept once and for all.

He began to speak hesitantly and as he delved deeper into his explanation, his somber demeanor became animatedly expressive, like by just describing this gave him an added vitality.

I was almost envious at the ease with which he could be so light-hearted and carefree...almost envious of his capacity to reflect sheer bliss. I'd just sent him sprawling on his ass for goodness sake!

But I listened carefully to what he was saying to me.

"When one of my kind imprints...it's when we, I...we find our true mate, the one who was designed just for us."

My eyebrows shot up, incredulity etched on every feature of my face. ___Really? Of all the delusional, harebrained things... _

"That's impossible!" I hissed instinctively. Instant anger suffused me at his words. Stalking to him again, my hand shot out and my icy fingers grasped his neck. With my one hand I pushed him back until he was rammed against one of the huge trees. I glared furiously up at him. "Know this, mutt. I'm not anyone's mate!" _Least of all yours._

He held up one of his large hands, imploring me to listen.

"Please let me continue. I know it sounds...impossible but I don't have any choice on who my imprint is." His deep voice was garbled as my marble grip tightened relentlessly on his throat. If my hand wasn't this small, he wouldn't have been able to speak at all.

"Obviously." I snapped in response to his strangled statement. His rejection of just moments ago still stung. Reluctantly, I loosened my fingers from around his throat, moving back away fro him. He let out a slow breath and pushed off the tree, taking a few steps towards me. His eyes took in the glare on my face and he halted his steps. Wise of him...

Raking his long fingers through his slightly tousled ebony hair, he went on, "It's not really what you would think it is... it's not like you have to be with me in a certain way or something..."  
I abruptly cut him off before he could remind me of my humiliating...overture, "Enough! I don't want to hear anymore. This is absolutely ridiculous!"

His animated elation dimmed a bit at my sharp words. ___Whatever._

I spun away from him, refusing to have him in my sight one second longer. He infuriatingly came to stand close behind me, whispering in that warm, deep voice.

"It also means I'm here for you in any and every way that you need me to be."

* * *

******Reviews are greatly appreciated : D**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: Don't own Twilight**

**Chapter 9**

**_Seth_**

I roused from a deep slumber, opening my eyes groggily to see the sun shining brightly through the branches of the towering red wood trees. Then I remembered where I was and with whom...I immediately shot up from my perch on the ground, frantically about to phase and search for her.

I let out a huge sigh of relief.

She was still here.

I did a double take, taking in the sight before me.

She stood in a patch of sunlight that shone uninterrupted from the shade of any tree. Her small heart shaped face was tilted up to the rays of the sun, her shocking red eyes closed as a light wind ruffled the tips of her flowing pale hair. She'd never bothered to put her cloak back on, and the bright sunlight revealed every curve of her slender silhouette outlined in her tight, dark clothes.

_Dang..._

In her unnatural stillness amid the natural greenery, she was the exact replica of a mannequin. An exquisite pixie supermodel mannequin. I grinned foolishly.

What really captivated me however was how her face sparkled with radiant diamond like reflections as the sun hit her fully.

I knew she was aware of my perusal but she didn't acknowledge me at all. She actually seemed to bask in the sunlight and I guessed in Volterra, she had been denied this simple pleasure.

I could stare all day...

I pried my gaze away however as I contemplated whether to keep running with her or accept the Cullens' proposal. Running away wasn't going to solve the issues I faced...

Cautiously rising to stand, I wondered how to approach her. If it hadn't been for my wolf dna, no doubt I'd still be recovering from her slug. I didn't want a repeat of last night, well not the hitting part anyway. Or the choking.

_Imprints are never supposed to hit each other._

But this definitely wasn't an average situation. All I knew was that I needed to be close to her, and I'd give my all to make her feel even just a fraction of the wondrous connection that we shared. I knew it affected her in some way and regardless of how challenging, I would get her to acknowledge our connection. Then we'd work things out from there. Nothing would deter my optimism.

I_ will_ make this right.

Then something suddenly occurred to me, something which should have been made apparent to me from the time I woke up.

I'd fallen asleep exhausted _in my human form._ And she hadn't made a run for it.

Which she readily could have.

Whatever she'd come to Forks for had to be really urgent for her to not take that opportunity to escape. This agitated me a lot. I inherently knew that she had come here for some sinister purpose which she refused to reveal to me. So I had to try and figure out what it was, without anyone getting hurt. Or without her trying to distract me again. No not _trying, _she'd hands down triumphed in distracting me. It had taken every ounce of my rigid self control to stop what she had been about to do. I didn't think I'd have the strength to stop her again...

That she'd wanted to _seduce _me had me still suspended in a state of gratified awe.

I had to keep reminding myself that she was not just a vampire and my natural enemy, but that she belonged to a powerful coven who could easily obliterate the entire Quileute line. Also that she'd lived for decades, to put it mildly whereas I'd barely lived one human lifetime.

I didn't know her at all...and because of this imprinting phenomenon I now wanted to know everything about her. A momentary flash of remorse hit me as I thought in any other circumstances, I would have tried my utmost to kill her...and I didn't kid myself. I knew she would kill me if she didn't have some use for me. These circumstances were mind boggling.

I couldn't continue like this.

So I approached her now, walking slowly to gauge her mood.

She kept her eyes closed as she spoke, her lips barely moving at all.

"What do you want, mutt?"

I felt my lips tugging into a grin. Well mutt was an improvement from mongrel, wasn't it?

"Please _don't _feel free to call me Seth."

"Sarcasm doesn't suit you, _mutt_."

"I've been thinking maybe we should head back."

Her eyes shot open yet she still held her form in that abnormal stillness.

"Yes. I want to go back to the reservation with you."

"Why?" I bluntly asked though I wasn't really expecting anything from her.

"Because you have...aroused my curiosity."

My brows shot up at her seeming honesty. She glanced at me, snapping, "For want of a better term! Not really aroused you know, I meant..."

I chuckled at her rising annoyance but stopped short when she glared harshly at me. "I know what you meant..." I said casually hoping to put her at ease. If she didn't have that pale skin of a vampire, I swore she would have blushed. Way to go, Seth, I actually made her, a vampire, flustered. She continued to glare at me while I just stood there grinning foolishly. I unnecessarily cleared my throat, dragging my eyes away from her face. If she looked so beautiful angry, how would she look like when she was...happy?

"What are you curious about?" I asked, wondering what it would take to make her smile at me.

"This imprinting impossibility for one...and why you are immune to me."

"I'm _not_ immune to you." Couldn't she feel my reaction to her anytime she held me close to her?

"My power." She enunciated slowly, turning her pale face away from my gaze slightly. Her light blonde hair partially covered the side of her face so that I could no longer see her expression. I clenched my hands at my sides battling with myself not to reach over and gently push those long strands aside.

"Oh...that."

"Yes that!"

Through the veil of her hair, I noticed her cupid bow lips pressing into a grim line. Her clear, bell like voice grew agitated. "Besides...Bella Cullen," She spat the name. You are the only other being I've met who can resist my power."

Of course, she'd be mystified as to why her power couldn't affect me. All I could think was that our imprint connection was so strong that she could no longer hurt me. Just as I would never hurt her. But somehow I didn't think she would want to hear my theory. The words still tumbled out of my mouth anyway.

"But I _did_ feel what you can do. At first. I think it has something to do with my imprinting on you, when I recognized you as my imprint, I just didn't feel anything anymore."

She whipped around to face me, her red eyes glowing fiercely. My tendency to say whatever was on my mind certainly wasn't helping me right now.

"I'm not your anything mutt, let's get that through your thick head." She hissed.

"The way you acted last night tells me otherwise." Damn my running mouth! I instantly regretted my thoughtless quip as she frowned, the delicate arch of her brows creasing her high, smooth forehead.

Fuck, I'd never even knew how much I, a seemingly macho shape shifter could blush since I'd...met her. The familiar heat crowded my face again as I recalled the manner in which she had drank from me only a few hours before.

After I had gently told her I would be here for her in whatever manner she needed me to be, she'd wasted no time in swivelling around to take a hold of me. She'd pushed me to the forest floor then straddled me as her mouth found the fount in my neck.

The more she'd sucked, the more intense the pleasure had gotten until even my unusually strong body had begun to weaken. She'd pulled what she needed so rigorously.

If my strength hadn't started to wane, I might've flipped her over and ground myself against her, maybe even more than that if she'd allowed me...

"Since when does my almost choking you to death constitutes as acting like your...anything?" I blinked when she asked abruptly.

"You know that's not what I'm talking about." I replied softly. Her vivid red eyes flicked over me quickly. Her thorough assessment lingered on my neck before her gaze met mine again. Was she thinking about the taste of my blood? Of the way how she held me close to her while she fed from me? What she didn't know was how good it made me feel. How good it was to feel her against me, to inhale her peaches and cloves scent in such proximity...and to touch her as much as I wanted. That was the best part. While she fed from me, she didn't seem to mind my touching her at all. Not that I'd...touched her inappropriately in her distraction. I just trailed my fingers through the silky fine texture of her hair. Something she'd most definitely not allow me to do outside of her feeding...session. However tempting it was to let my hands drift to other areas of her perfectly formed body, I'd never do that. Unless she wanted me to.

Yeah, maybe in another century or two.

"Blame my..._thirst_ on a momentary lapse of my mind." She snapped peevishly, almost childishly.

"I wasn't talking about your thirst either." I couldn't help smiling when she bit her lip and narrowed her eyes at me.

I grinned, deciding I wouldn't make her any more uncomfortable by reminding her of how she'd almost..stripped for me."Besides, vampires don't get 'momentary lapses'."

Her small hands fisted at her side and she shrieked in a nearly ear splitting octave."Neither do we feed from wolves, nor get unconscious or have their powers mysteriously go away when they need it the most!"

I raised both hands, seeking to placate her. "Calm down, alright. I'm sorry."

She turned her face away from me and I felt even worse. It was so good to look into her eyes. Something just clicked into place when we stared at each other, though she always seemed to evade direct eye contact. And I loudly wondered if she felt anything, too.

"Don't you feel it?"

She still refused to look at me as I continued to speak softly, soothingly. "Don't you feel that connection between us when you look at me?"

"When will we be returning?"

I sighed in disappointment at her immediate avoidance of answering me. Then I took a deep breath, mentally fortifying myself for another outburst at what I had to tell her next.

"We'll have to stay with the Cullens for a while."

I closed my eyes briefly waiting to hear the shrill, high shriek of her outrage.

And waited...

Her eyes were glued to the forest floor as if it held some great fascination to her. When she finally spoke, the silky soft ring of her ethereal voice made me start as if she _had_ responded in a shriek. The muted, quivering sound of her voice was the last thing I had been expecting. From just the few days we'd spent together, she hadn't struck me as the type to get easily scared.

"I'm staying at the reservation with you."

"You can't...they don't trust you." And sadly neither did I. Yet I was hopelessly determined to believe that one day I could. "The Cullens won't hurt you, and I'd be there with you. If you really meant what you said before, about trying a new lifestyle, there's the safest place for you, the..uh..Volturi won't think to look for you there."

Jane remained completely silent for the longest while. I shifted and swallowed deeply a few times, anxious for her to just say something. After what seemed like hours, she raised her head and looked at me.

" Seth...I..I can't. I can't go there, not when they all hate me so much. I'll be in constant terror that they'll try to terminate me..."

I hated to see the deep fear shining from her vivid ruby eyes. I had to touch her, somehow relay to her that it'd all be ok. I gently placed my hands on the tops of her arms, slowly so she could indicate if she didn't want me to touch her. To my relief she allowed me to and I drew closer to her. Tenderly I said, "I know they won't hurt you, Jane. Contrary to what you might think of them, they're good people, they'll give you a chance."

She shook her pale blond head frantically, grasping my arms then and whispering so softly that without my unique hearing I wouldn't have heard what she said.

"Seth, I cant, I can't stay there, please let's go to the reservation. You don't have to let me out of your sight at all. But not there, not with them..."

This was getting more and more impossible. I so wanted to please her, give her what she wanted and keep my peers safe at the same time. No matter how much I wanted to appease her though, my allegiance to the packs remained steadfast. When I'd last communicated with Jacob, he and the Cullens had been about to pounce and I'd barely managed to hold them off from descending on Jane.

I hadn't been too happy that Jake and the Cullens had decided they would continue to follow us from a distance where their presence would remain undetectable to Jane but where I could readily confer with Jake if I had to. My sudden gratefulness for their decision was more evidence that this was beyond me. I'd swallow my pride and accept their assistance though than risk her escaping me. That I couldn't even think about.

I quickly told her, praying she wouldn't try to run. "Hold on, ok."

I stepped back as far as I needed to then slipping off my shorts hastily, I phased. The urgency of this situation left no room for modesty.

Jake responded quickly to me, he must've been in his wolf form the whole time looking out for my call.

_Seth._

_Even from a distance, the tenseness in his wolf voice rang through._

___She won't go with the Cullens willingly._  


_What she wants is not important right now Seth. We need to contain her before she runs back to the Volturi and starts a whole new war. I'm surprised she hasn't already. With Bella and Edward guarding her, we can have this situation under control, at least for now. You can still stay with her. But we need to act now!_

_Maybe she could stay with me at the reservation..._

_Seth!_

_And Bella and Edward can guard her there, __I hastily continued._

_She may be your imprint but this isn't solely your decision here. All our families' safety and lives are at risk. We need to get to her now._

_She's got no fighting skills, Jake. Once Bella can shield others from her, Edward and maybe even Emmett as well can guard her, she won't do any harm, __I intoned desperately_

_If she won't come willingly then we force her, __Jake voiced ominously_ in response.

_I can't..._

You_ don't have to. But we can._

Jane was watching me intently and I gave my full attention to her, on the look out for any sign that she was about to bolt.

I didn't bother to phase back to my human form just yet 'cause I had a distinct feeling that this was going to get ugly.


	10. Chapter 10

**Thank you for your reviews : D **

**Characters belong to Stephenie Meyer**

**Chapter 10**

**Jacob**

**24 hours earlier**

It was Alice's vision that really confirmed the family's decision to take Jane under their wing.

Everyone had been in an agitated state as they debated who should make up the hunting party. Carlisle was the first one to volunteer as he said more than anything to see if he could 'dissipate any tension'. They were all aware that Jane wouldn't just simply come along with them.

Bella's presence was a must, her shield was the catalyst in which they would be able to approach her at all. Of course, Edward insisted he come as well.

Emmett had tried to argue that he should go but Edward outrightly refused to let Bella go without him.

I was filled with regret that I'd let Seth run off with her in the first place, I should've known better.

Carlisle had patted my shoulder consolingly.

"You did the best thing you thought at the time."

"Yeah but there were about five of us, excluding Seth, we could have easily overpowered her and brought her here. Now we have to go to the extra trouble of finding them."

"If she hasn't eluded him already." Edward muttered.

I nodded.

"I hope we're not too late. I just hope she doesn't hurt him."

I hated that I had to leave Renesmee. Briefly I'd thought of asking Sam or one of the others to go but I of course I couldn't. This was my fault, I had been the one to insist Seth leave with her.

"And if you all do manage to capture her, what next? She can't stay here!It's too dangerous for all of us." Rosalie had put in, her cold barbie doll face plastered with her signature sneer.

"It'd be more dangerous if she makes it back to Volterra...and Aro. We have to find out why she was here in the first place." Carlise stated calmly.

Bella said grimly. "I fully intend to make sure she doesn't get past my shield."

"But how long can we keep this up? Aro and the rest of those goons will come look for her."

Emmett hit the nail on the head. His question made everyone deathly silent. There was no solution readily available for that one.

They all looked at me. I didn't need to be a mind reader to know that they were all silently asking the same question. If we should...end her. It seemed the only obvious solution. That decision would've been non-negotiable if it wasn't for this baffling occurrence with Seth. As his alpha, I understood that the decision to kill her or not was ultimately in my hands.

Could I really do that? Could I really snuff out another man's hopefulness and impending happiness, no matter how impossible it seemed he could ever be happy given these circumstances? But I was the last one to determine if circumstances were right or not.

I thought of Renesmee, sound asleep upstairs. Hell, I'd almost killed her at first just before I miraculously imprinted on her. That particular remembrance made me cringe with self loathing and shame. Now the thought of anyone so much as making her cry would most definitely incite an extreme, violent reaction from me.

As our wolf minds had made the mental connection, I'd experienced the intense imprinting of Seth with Jane. There was no doubt she was his imprint. No matter how preposterous it seemed.

To kill Jane would destroy Seth. To not kill her could potentially destroy all of us.

A sharp gasp abruptly sliced through the heavy silence. All of us instantly fixed our attention on Alice who'd been sitting next to Jasper. He held her close, his eyes intent on her dazed face.

Slowly her eyes regained their focus and she regarded each of us solemnly. She said resolutely.

"We have to keep her alive."

* * *

_Jane_

They burst through a thick copse of trees, just slightly off to my right, facing me where I stood just a couple of feet before Seth. Involuntarily, I took a few steps back bringing me closer to him, forcing myself to stay calm. When I first became aware of their impending approach, I'd hastily found my cloak, putting it back on and with deft fingers had re-fastened my hair into its customary chignon while Seth's large wolf eyes had aggravatingly followed every one of my lightening quick movements. It helped ease my burgeoning fear just a little to appear as formidable as possible. Besides the thought of them seeing me in a casual way made me uncomfortable. I wanted them to face me as the immensely feared Volturi guard that I was. I squelched the immediate thought that followed...that I had not been uncomfortable with Seth seeing me in my tight, casual clothes...and that I had been willing for him to see even more of me...

Gritting my teeth, I determinedly focused on my approaching enemies.

They stopped just some yards away from us. Bella had her eyes trained on me, her golden gaze glaring at me with outright hostility. Her husband stood right beside her, his hand on her arm, and the scarred one stood on her other side, also regarding me with a harsh glare while the other wolf emitted low growls. The only one who seemed almost relaxed was their coven leader, the one who'd been with the Volturi all those years ago. Carlisle.

Through sheer will, I forced myself to remain still, to not betray my fear and anxiety with so much as the flutter of an eyelid. Damn it all, I should have killed that wolf while he had been out cold in his human form...killed him and escaped the hell away from here. Because of my ridiculous craving for his blood, I had put myself in this position...facing my most hated enemies completely on my own.

I could see Edward regarding me now, with a subtle puzzled frown on his face. Silently I was thankful for all those tenacious, mind grueling exercises that Chelsea insisted I tolerate before embarking on this infuriating mission. He should only be able to read what I chose to let him read. So hopefully all he could read from my mind was my long inventory of Volterra's extensive library, practically hundreds of ancient books and scrolls.

I hadn't thought that I would need to implement Chelsea's lessons though, thinking I would have been able to sneak in and out of Forks undetected, no one the wiser.

I did not test to see if Bella had her shield up or not. It was a forgone conclusion that she was utilizing her power. I experienced a quick burst of intense envy that I was unable to use mine. However, I knew she would be able to detect if I used my power. And going on the offensive was the wrong move to make if I had to convince them that I meant no harm.

Carlisle acknowledged me softly, his voice easily reaching me from the too short distance between us.

"Jane."

I barely nodded my head in response. If they were waiting for me to break the tension, we'd be standing here for the rest of eternity. And given our nature, that would be quite literal.

Edward still wore that slight frown. I really had to concentrate on maintaining my mental walls just as Chelsea had painstakingly taught me to do. I could do this...

"Why are you here?"

The scarred one spoke this time. He wasn't really familiar to me, the only Cullens I really had previous awareness of were their leader Carlisle, the little one Alice, the huge, hulking one and _that_ pair. Edward and Bella.

"I was passing through." I responded evenly.

They glanced quickly at each other with disbelief.

"On my way from leaving Volterra. For good." I added for good measure.

Bella gave an undignified snort and Edward was staring at me hard now, not bothering to hide his bafflement anymore. It seemed as if he hadn't got past my mental defenses. Good.

"We'd like to extend an invitation for you to stay with us. I hardly think you have any other place to go." Carlisle said, a hint of wryness in his tone. Quite the diplomat.

"We can't allow you to leave. The risk to humans in this area is not one we're willing to take." The scarred one added bluntly, his eyes focused sharply on me, though I remained completely still.

I smiled slightly. I can beat them at their own game.

"Seth's been taking good care of me. I can assure you I won't be hunting any human's blood."

Then I did something that required me to overcome all my ingrained instincts. I reached out and placed my hand in the deep fur at Seth's neck where he had come to stand beside me. How's that for authenticity.

Every pair of eyes swivelled to Seth except Bella, who kept her gaze riveted on me. In my peripheral vision, I saw Seth's wolf eyes slant sideways in my direction and I was certain if he was in his human body, his face would have been suffused with blood.

The fleeting thought that he might be ashamed of me _nearly_ caused me to splinter my wooden expression with an instinctive affronted snarl. I firmly kept my lips pressed together.

"Nevertheless, aside from that we need to monitor you. We can't risk anyone from the reservation or in the town getting hurt." Carlisle spoke again.

My voice was ice cold, "I'm staying with Seth."

Scarred face said equally cold, "We can do this the easy way or the hard way, it's up to you."

"Please Jane, come with us. You have my word we won't hurt you." Carlisle spoke, his voice still quiet and ...kind.

"I'm not coming." No way was I going to be heralded to the Cullens' abode. They would practically keep me imprisoned. A fate even worse than failing Aro.

We'd agreed if I didn't return to Volterra in two weeks, Aro would send reinforcements to me. I still believed I could be back home before then, my mission completed.

Seth's imprinting infatuation was to my benefit. If I went to the reservation with him, it'd be easier to get at Sam. Yet this Jacob wolf seemed to spend a lot of time with the Cullens like he was some sort of guard dog to them or something. _As if they needed that._

I could feel my innate resentment bubbling to the surface, as I bitterly recalled how they'd thwarted our plans five years ago. And now here they were once again, building an indomitable wall that effectively blocked what I came here to do.

They slowly began to spread out now, with their damnable _shield _concentrating on them, to form a semi circle around me.

Seth moved back, joining their movements. I turned to him in shock. Then turned my face away, angry at myself that I'd actually depended on a wolf to implement my strategy. Steadfastly ignoring the strange burning pain in my throat, I lifted my chin imperiously. I was nothing if not resourceful.

Not having the use of my power available to me, I could be extremely cunning. So I would put up no resistance now, not only because I was vastly outnumbered but by not being aggressive, it would be the first step to misleading the Cullens about my true motives.

If all else failed, they'd be the recipients of Aro's wrath, when he descended on them in as little as two weeks.

All the while I diligently worked to keep my mental walls up much to Edward's consternation.

I meekly bowed my head as they slowly advanced on me now. The scarred face vampire and Carlisle grasped either side of my arm and shepherded me out of the small clearing and into the deep forest. I forced my feet to move, my teeth gritted that I had to tolerate this at all. Edward and Bella followed closely behind with the wolves, and I could feel that traitor, Seth close behind me.

I swore if he ever revealed an inkling of what almost occurred between us, I'd really kill him for sure.

* * *

Too soon we were swiftly walking towards the entrance of the Cullen residence. Seth and Jacob lingered behind, perhaps to make their revolting transformation. The fierce looking scarred face vampire, whose name I found out to be Jasper, and Carlisle tightened their grip on my arms as they led me up wide steps which led into a spacious, sleekly appointed foyer. The house was spacious by human standards and accented with pale walls and glass windows.

_How cute._

Bella immediately went to stand in front of the rest of the Cullen family, Edward closely following. There was an auburn haired female, who I barely recognized as Carlisle's mate, the foreteller, her eyes unflinchingly appraising me and the huge, grinning buffoon who somehow reminded me a little of Felix with his flashy mate.

Behind all of them was the 'immortal child', now seemingly a young woman. She gazed at me curiously over the tops of her relatives' heads being significantly taller than the rest of the Cullen females.

Seth and Jacob burst through the door then, the latter immediately going to stand beside the half mortal, half immortal freak. I felt Seth's dark eyes on me, the pull of his gaze uncannily making me want to meet his eyes.

I never looked at him.

Even as I sensed him drawing closer to me, I refused to acknowledge him.

Carlisle's mate stepped forward then, smiling tentatively.

"Jane, is it? I'm Esme, welcome to our home."

I stared at her disbelievingly. What did she think this was, a social visit?

"Maybe I'd feel a bit more welcome if your...relatives would kindly unhand me."

She frowned slightly and Carlisle subtly shook his head, eyeing her cautiously.

This was so _wrong_. Always when confronting rival vampires, I'd had the benefits of my Alec's support, the benefits of an entire contingent of gifted guards not too mention the presence of my ancient master. It was indescribably frustrating to face my most reviled enemies alone...and on their territory.

Everyone just continued to regard me steadily, even a bit awkwardly as if they didn't know what to say next.

"Are we going to stand here forever? I'd appreciate it if I was shown to where you intend to ...imprison me." I spat out impatiently.

Bella addressed me then, her voice dripping acid, "Why did you come here?"

I didn't really want to even look at this nemesis, much more grace her with an answer. Yet I turned my eyes on her as I taunted sweetly, "Why don't you ask your dear spouse. He should be able to read my mind, should he not?"

To my glee, they exchanged confused glances.

"I...can't. She's executed some sort of mental block, all I can see are countless volumes of the Volterra library." Edward said hesitantly.

I so despised them. That my master wanted to add these two to our coven, particularly Bella, had never really sat well with me.

They all had questions for me then, repeatedly asking the same inane questions as I just silently stood there, tuning them out. Would that I could just have them _all_ convulsing before me in undiluted agony. I missed using my power so damned much!

It was almost a balm to hear Seth's husky voice cutting through their increasingly irritating interrogation.

"She's already said why she came here. She escaped...give her a break."

"Your freaky imprint stuff might allow her to twist you around her little finger, but we're not buying it dude." Felix's 'twin' imparted quite meaningfully.

"It's not as if she can overpower all of you, the manhandling thing is not necessary." Seth insisted.

Some unspoken communication seemed to pass between Carlisle and Esme. He spoke slowly, "We're releasing you now, please don't do anything rash."

For one unbelievable moment, I thought they were going to let me go from here. Then I realized he only meant that he and scarred face were simply releasing their firm hold on my arms. I couldn't help my disappointed sneer. Carlisle continued cautiously, "Please, we don't want to have to...hurt you."

Seth made a low, growling sound deep in his throat, undetectable to human ears but which all of us heard loud and clear.

They removed their hands off me, moving away a few inches but still hovering close. Instantly Seth came closer to my side yet I could barely refrain myself from shoving him away. Shoving him right through their oh so pretty glass window would have been ideal. "Keep away from me!" I seethed.

He whispered to me imploringly, "Jane..."

I made the mistake of turning my lethal gaze on him, instinctively seeking to incapacitate him before being harshly reminded of his immunity. His dark chocolate eyes held mines evenly and despite the unwanted, hostile audience, I couldn't help returning his gaze. I inconceivably wanted to touch him suddenly, to reassuringly glide my icy hand along the smooth, bare heat of his chiselled arm.

"Do you...want me to stay with you?"

I responded automatically, my thoughts still fixated on touching his hot skin. "Yes..." I was barely aware of his wide eyed response to my answer. The distraction of his scent and the remembered taste of his blood had me firmly in its grip. For a few tantalizing seconds while I stared into his compelling eyes, I continued to imagine touching him. Gliding my fingers along his firmly sculpted arm then cradling his neck roughly before tugging his head down so that I could reach his pulsing artery with my lips and teeth...

I was hardly aware of my adversaries watching us wonderingly as he continued to hold my eyes with his. Directly in contrast to my ravenous thirst for his blood, his gaze was oddly comforting.

"Ahem!" The huge one, Emmett cleared his throat gruffly with an easy chuckle.

I caught myself quickly."No! I certainly don't require your presence! What part of keep away from me, don't you understand?" I snapped, vainly trying to cover up my involuntary reaction to Seth.

A quick flash of hurt made his deep brown eyes shimmer for a second then he swallowed deeply, shoving his hands in the pockets of his ...shorts and glancing down at the ground.

An exasperated sigh escaped me the exact moment he sighed forlornly. He glanced quickly at me then and my eyes clashed with his. He started to grin a little and I carefully averted my gaze, stifling the impulsive urge to return his...engaging smile. Damn it...he was so... what would a human call it? _Gorgeous_...I'd heard our supremely annoying human receptionist mooning dreamily over Felix of all creatures and she'd described him as...gorgeous. Well, he had nothing on Seth...

Shaking my head slightly at my uncharacteristically silly musing, I turned my attention to _them_ again. I was so aggravated that Seth persisted in affecting me like this. It was not something I'd bargained for.

Esme tentatively came forward again, Bella following closely beside her. Carlisle moved as well to partially block her view of me as she approached.

"I should show you to your...room."

"My prison cell you mean? By all means." I snapped insolently. I'd be grateful for even a rat's hole if it would mean that I wouldn't have to be surrounded by their company for a second longer.

Carlisle looked meaningfully at the rest of his family and they slowly filed out of the room with the exception of his mate, Edward and Bella. Esme and Bella led the way up the gleaming wooden stairway, with Seth just behind me, ugh, and Carlisle and Jacob bringing up the rear.

They led me to another spacious room, sparsely appointed with accoutrements I had no use for. There was another large glass window facing out to the forest which I eyed speculatively. I was intently aware of Bella watching me as I stared out the window. Seth was awkwardly standing just inside the door, his tall, dark, sturdy frame seeming out of sorts with the pale, modern room. Carlisle's mate, Esme was flitting about the room, absurdly murmuring about the amenities that I could use. I didn't even bother to listen to her forced hospitality.

What interested me were Carlisle and Edward. They were conferring softly, every word of which I could hear, of course.

They decided that Bella and Edward were to 'guard' my room, to ensure that I wouldn't escape or heaven forbid, hurt any of them. So I was to be kept in this room, with two of my most hated enemies guarding me and a constantly hovering, misguided wolf.

_Lovely._


	11. Chapter 11

**Thank you so much for your reviews and for following : )**

**Characters belong to Stephenie Meyer**

**_Chapter 11_**

**_Frustrated and Forbidden_**

**_SETH_**

"Well, that went well." I muttered, distracted.

"Too well." Jake responded tersely.

We were standing in the woods bordering the Cullen residence. I'd just vigorously refreshed myself, making a quick run to my house on the reservation for a clean set of clothing. I felt human again in my t-shirt and jeans. Still had to get back accustomed with just wandering about in a pair of shorts after my stint in New York when I'd moved with Leah.

Anxiously I peered at the window partially visible to me from where we stood, hoping for just a glimpse of her. I barely heard Jake add, "She's got something planned."

She'd practically thrown me out of the room, insisting that I leave her alone. Of course I'd been about to leave briefly anyway to refresh myself but now that was done, it was clear I wasn't welcome back.

If we could have just spent some more alone time together, where I could just talk to her, hold her...I knew she felt something of the imprint. I saw it when she looked at me. And that she felt anything at all was really amazing to me. She had no previous knowledge of this phenomenon whatsoever, not to mention that her place with the most organized, menacing vampire coven in the world had surely jaded her. So I considered it a miracle that she'd been so responsive to me.

In a twisted way, I was sort of grateful that she possessed her terrifying power. If she hadn't had the power to disable my strength, I could have killed her. Killed her without ever knowing what she is to me.

"...so that sealed the deal where keeping her here was concerned..."

I just wanted a glimpse of her. What was she doing? How was she coping? It couldn't be easy for her, to be in a houseful of vampires whom she considered her enemies, without her defenses, and to be so far away from the only home she'd ever known.

I shuddered as I recalled that large group of ancient vampires...and pondered what the hell was I going to do if and when they came.

I'd never removed my intense gaze from that window and now I smiled hugely as I glimpsed her silhouette shrouded in that dark cloak as she came to stand before the window. She glanced through the intricate glass frame and then in a motion almost too swift for my eyes to follow, she turned away. But still in that brief glimpse, I could see the marked dejection on her face.

I took a step towards the house, intent on finding some way to make her feel better then stopped, remembering she didn't want me anywhere near her. Not that I would be able to keep myself away for too long...

"...and we've just got to find out why she came here, obviously she's lying..."

Maybe we should have just kept running, running off somewhere far where it was just the two of us, where I could convince her that we would make this right. Where we could readily ignore all the frustrating diversions and duties of our respective clans and just focus on each other. Hell, she loved my blood, I could take care of her, she'd never need to kill another human again and I'd always be able to phase from being close to her...

"...so did she tell you anything?"

I just needed time to persuade her...

Yet I knew I just couldn't abandon my family and peers to face the ever threatening, impending disaster of the Volturi following her here.

"Seth! "

Jake's hand blocked my vision of her window as he waved it back and forth in front my face repeatedly. I blinked and reluctantly glanced at him.

"What?!" I snapped.

"You never heard a word I said, did you?"

I swiped my hand through my hair resignedly.

"Sorry man."

Jake chuckled a little, ruefully shaking his head.

"Yep. That's how it usually is when you're newly imprinted."

His face grew morose as he glanced at the house then back at me.

"Heck Seth, I'm sorry."

I gave him a puzzled frown.

"For?"

He gestured wildly as he spoke.

"That you have to go through all this. You didn't deserve that...to imprint on a Volturi...you're a great guy and you deserve way better than this."

"Don't be sorry. I'm not..."

I knew Jake had to have some idea of what happened between us or what could have anyway, from our wolf minds' connection. I appreciated his decency not to bring it up.

He let out a deep breath.

"Don't you wish you'd..you know...imprinted on a normal girl...well at least one who was open and receptive to the whole imprinting stuff?"

I didn't even have to think about it.

"No. It's not the ideal circumstances but she'll come around."

Jake's eyebrows shot up incredulously yet he murmured, "She just might."

I glanced at him in surprise at his optimism.

He continued, "Yeah...as I was saying before, Alice had a vision about...Jane. I could say this now as we don't intend to do so again but...we were considering killing her."

Slowly I turned to him, the deadly look on my face stopping him in his tracks. Jane was their enemy and most likely secretly harbored some ill will but they had the situation under control for now, and I would not tolerate hearing any more talk of...killing her.

Jake said quickly, "But we're not going to. Because of what Alice saw."

I listened in fascination as Jake described Alice's vision, and though I'd always been hopeful Jane and I could somehow resolve our insurmountable issues, now real hope blossomed.

* * *

I tried, once again, to see if Jane would let me in. You could have sworn her cloak was red and I was the big, bad wolf! I would have went in anyway just to see if I could tempt her with my blood if only to look at her, touch her...

But then I told myself because of the intimacy of her...feeding session with me, I'd be pretty uncomfortable doing that in the Cullens' home. Though it'd been brief, I missed the privacy of when it was just us in the forest together.

I winced as she screeched at me for probably the thousandth time, "Keep away from me!"

Words no wolf ever wanted to hear from the one that was his sole anchor to...everything. Each painful command that she shouted at me felt like it was a new nail being hammered into my coffin. Morbidly, I thought if I wasn't immune, I could bear the pain of her power if only to be in her presence. I'd prefer that deadly pain, prefer it any day than to stay away from her as she wanted me to do.

I badly wanted to burst through that door. But she'd made it quite clear that's not what she wanted. And I couldn't bear to see that look of terror in her eyes again anyway, that same look she'd had in the forest when she realised that...there was nothing she could do to prevent me from capturing her.

Sighing ruefully, I pushed myself off where I'd been leaning against the closed door. Edward and Bella stood just beside me.

"Sorry, Seth."

I nodded once in acknowledgement of Edward's quiet words then I bolted out of there. If someone told me sorry one more time...I knew they meant well, that they were empathizing with me. From their point of view, my imprinting seemed to be bad luck. But their pity was wasted because I didn't see it like that.

All I wanted was to be with her.

I barely managed to come out of the house before I phased violently, senselessly ripping my clothes to pieces. I ran free in my wolf desperately seeking a reprieve from the prison cell my human mind had become that harbored all my frustration and longing.

* * *

_Volterra_

His lips traversed a hot path from the long column of her smooth, alabaster neck to her ear, which he nipped softly, in just the way he knew she loved.

She barely managed to stifle her moan, gripping his shoulders tightly as he moved over and in her.

Frantically her hands slid down his torso, grasping his hips while he unrelentingly pounded into her.

The slap of their marble like flesh echoed in the vast, dim room from their frenzied coupling. Right now he couldn't care if any one overheard, he wanted this moment to last forever. It seemed a cruel thing that they could live forever but could only share random, hurried moments.

Too soon the others would finish their meal and some one would notice they were absent.

It was always the _hardest_ thing to stop. Only when he was sure that she was momentarily satisfied, did he disengage himself from her.

Tenderly he brushed the soft, curling tendrils at the nape of her neck, looking into ruby red eyes that reflected his own. He could never get enough of her and he rued the stipulation that prevented him from publicly claiming her as his. But she belonged to Aro's echelon of guards whom he allowed to have no mates, as a means of maintaining their complete loyalty and devotion to him.

If Aro so much as touched them with the inquisitive invasion of his power, they knew everything would be over. But it was a risk they were both willing to take.

He spoke softly against her lips, "I love you, Chelsea."


	12. Chapter 12

**Thank you so much for your reviews! They motivate me to keep writing : D**

**We all know who these characters belong to : )**

**Chapter 12**

**_Is swallowing your blood worth swallowing my pride?_**

**_Jane_**

Periodically I could detect when one of the other Cullens took over from Edward's and Bella's watch. Half-heartedly I pondered if I could swiftly manage to overpower whoever it was. But it was too risky, all of them were constantly in the house. Like a group of blood thirsty vampires, they milled about my room as if I were the most succulent piece of human flesh. Except they were'vegetarians' and I was the blood thirsty vampire who hungered for human blood. And just not any human's blood. I hungered for the blood of a man who could turn into a giant mongrel at any given moment.

I inwardly cursed this mission, my Master Aro, even the fact that I was born.

Never had a few days ever felt so long before. After glimpsing out the window and spotting _him_ out there where his eyes uncannily met mine, I'd swiftly turned away, already feeling the effects of his gaze even though he stood a little distance from the house. Helplessly caressing my throat, consciously craving just a little taste of him, I'd perched myself on the ludicrous bed and not moved since.

That had been five days ago.

It was killing me to just sit here while I worked to control my ever burgeoning rage...and thirst. I was still inconceivably angry at Seth's defection, thinking I'd have gotten him to take me to the reservation. It would have been so much easier then to maneuver my way around him and swiftly incapacitate Sam Uley before moving on to the other alpha. I'd have found a way to get him alone, away from his beloved Cullens.

Logically I should welcome Seth's company, encourage his silly imprinting mumbo jumbo as I could still try to convince him to take me to the reservation. But the horse was out the stable now with the Cullens being aware of my presence. Trust them to take it to the extreme of keeping me against my will, something I'd vainly tried to avoid.

What really irked me was the disarming reality that I couldn't control my reaction to him.

I hated that it scared me. And I hated him for causing this. It was absolutely mind numbing... experiencing this passionate craving for his blood. This was nothing like what I normally felt when I was thirsty. This was a hundred times worse because where before I'd never had to consciously hold my appetite back now I constantly had to fight this growing addiction.

To know that taste, it was like drinking water all your life and then tasting a rich, sumptuous wine for the first time. How could I ever go back to drinking any mere human's blood when the taste of his rendered all other blood as tasteless as water was useless to me? He was my live walking vintage wine bottle, filled to the brim. A hot addictive wine that I craved as badly as an alcoholic needed that last drop of intoxicating liquid.

But it wasn't just the blood that affected me. It was _all_ of him.

Combined with that rare exquisite taste, I enjoyed touching him while I fed, feeling his strangely hot body against me. His heat should have elicited a revulsion in me as I never enjoyed feeling heat of any kind but it felt so pleasant, especially on my own artic skin.

Yet what confused me the most was how I was able to sense how he felt when he looked at me. It was like he communicated every single thing he felt, like there was this vital energy arcing between us as if we were two corresponding devices riding the same electrical wavelength. These inexplicable waves, I vehemently fought.

Though it had just been about a week since I'd been away, I grievously missed Alec. I missed the cold routine of our well-ordered, organized existence in Volterra. I hated feeling...confused and ...needy.

This was not something I could ever share with Alec when I returned, it was too...private.

As I sat there unmoving, I began to reflect on the true beginning of our lives, when we became vampires.

_I'd thought the sheer pain of being burnt alive was the deepest pain there could ever be. We'd been bound to the stake with Alec facing north and I south, displayed before the very same villagers who'd always been intimidated by us yet had taunted us daily. Their taunts had fallen on deaf ears now, as Alec and I shrieked in tandem when the fire began to engulf us. _

_We'd never noticed how the enthusiastic shouts of the villagers had eerily tapered off nor seen the flashing iridescent figure, blurring too quickly for human eyes to follow. _

_All I murkily remembered was a brief feeling of being held in what felt like frozen stone._

_Then more agony. The flames of the pyre used to burn us at the stake was _nothing _compared to the burning of the vampiric transformation. All I could think at the time was that the villagers had been right, that we belonged in hell and for those interminable three days, I'd really believed that I had died and was now purely suffering in a molten hell hole._

_When I'd opened my eyes, __I could hardly comprehend_ that I was stronger than I'd ever been. _Aro's voice had resonated through the unnatural silence._

"_Ahh, bellisima."_

_Never in my mortal years had I heard anyone address me with such reverence and respect. I'd immediately smiled after I'd darted up to see him hovering close by, a crowd of shadowy figures around him._

_Then Alec had flitted to my side and seeing him in this strange afterlife here with me, I thought that everything couldn't be any better. But Alec had been immediately distrustful, crouching protectively before me and growling antagonistically at Aro and the others._

_Aro had moved a step forward, holding out his hand reassuringly as if trying to pacify a wild animal. Alec had lunged at him but three huge guards had instantly intercepted him before he ever reached Aro and slammed him down on the marble floor. The sound of his body slamming into the ground and the sight of what had appeared to me then as monsters holding him down, had spurred me to instinctively react. The guard with his hands around Alec's neck had relaxed his hold and then spasmed to the floor, contorting in obvious torture._

_About three more guards came towards me but Aro had stopped them with just a gesture, looking at me in fascination._

_He'd cooed in his high, papery thin voice, _"_Jane dear, everything will be fine. I will not permit anyone to harm you or Alec, you can stop now. You're both my beloved children now, no one can hurt you anymore."_

_His reassurances had calmed me and I'd broken away my agony inducing gaze and turned shyly to him. His stark white face had beamed in a beatific smile and I'd wished then, if only our own father had beheld us with such love and devotion. _

_Alec had begun to struggle again and now a tall, slender woman came forth summoned by Aro, her long dark gold hair plaited down her back and this was Chelsea._

_Under careful surveillance from Aro, she had passively approached Alec and as the guards held him down, she'd gazed intently at him until his resistance ceased._

_Yet in all my years with the Volterra, Chelsea had never had to use her power on me to seal my commitment to Aro and the Volturi. To Aro's amazement, I readily infiltrated myself seamlessly into the many duties and missions that were required. It had been an immense relief to me not to stifle my innate ability. Oh how I revelled in what I could do for those first few years! _

_Each time I utilized my power against some unwitting vampire who had lost Aro's favor, I imagined it was my horrid aunt who beat us mercilessly or one of those aggrieved villagers who tormented us. To me, releasing this pent up anger was the best part of using my power._

_In all this time I'd maintained my steadfast devotion to Aro especially because to me he was the hero, the rescuer who had removed Alec and I from our torturous life in that common village and rescued us from a horrible death. He'd given us strength and an enhancement of our powers resulting in my never having to feel vulnerable or weak or unwanted again. He was the source of my much needed parental guidance, and together with Alec's companionship, Aro's delight and appreciation at my ever increasing adaptibility to Volturi life was the true source of my contentment._

_It had given me immense pride to be the most coveted Volturi offensive power amongst Aro's talented members. _

_Nothing and no one had ever come between me and fulfilling Aro's directives. Until now._

A slight tap on the door jolted me out of my reverie. The door inched open slightly and Esme peeked through the room.

What could she possibly want?

"May I come in?"

I heard Bella right behind her.

"Esme, I don't think this is such a good idea."

I would have said no but any bad idea to _her_ was certainly a good one to me. I muttered without so much as glancing in their direction.

"If you must."

The door opened wider and Bella darted ahead of Esme, glaring at me harshly. Her blatant animosity towards me was getting really tiresome. Besides, no one did animosity better than _I_ did.

I wondered if we didn't have the use of our gifts, who would likely be victorious in a hand to hand combat. I had no physical training but I sure as hell thought I could effectively wipe that sneer off her face.

Esme stood across the room from me, hovering anxiously. I could sense Edward standing just outside the door. I concentrated just a bit more carefully, relaying my previous thought to the mind reader. I smiled slightly when I heard a low hiss.

"If you'd like, we can supply you with a change of clothes." Esme said gently.

What was with the simpering hospitality?

"I don't think so."

No way I wanted to be outfitted in whatever cast off they might throw at me. Heaven forbid I smell like Bella.

She, Esme, then asked tentatively, "Are you...thirsty?"

When she said this, I became aware again of the intense dry throb in my throat. I really shouldn't be thirsty yet. In Volterra, there was a feeding frenzy almost everyday, most of the Volturi feasted and glutted themselves at every feeding yet I'd fed about only once a week at most. The hungered craze at Volterra mealtimes had not really appealed to me.

But now after having had _his _blood, I found I became thirstier faster; he made me thirsty more often than I should be. Bring me that wine bottle...um, wolf.

I tried to phrase my words in a way that conveyed that I wasn't desperately needy. "Can I see the wolf again? I..I would like to ask him something."

"His name's Seth and he's not your convenient blood supply!" Bella snapped.

_How dare she?! _

"_That_ is none of your business." I was instantly furious that she assumed that all I really wanted was Seth's blood. Yes it was true that I wanted...needed..._craved_ his blood but for her to shoot through my vague request to see him with such blatantly self-righteous anger practically made me see red.

"You can drink blood from a deer just as easily as the rest of us!"

_Oh for the love of... _I shot up from my seat and began to stalk towards her just as Edward burst into the room. I could hear the others literally flying up the stairs now. Whoosh, whoosh!

Edward was now in front of Bella, who was tugging his arm away, almost fighting him to face me.

"Bella, please." Esme said placatingly.

Then Emmett, the huge buffoon and Jasper were on either side of me, clasping my arms.

Carlisle gripped a worried looking Esme around her waist, ushering her from the room, before turning to look first at Bella then me.

"What's going on here?"

" I may be a prisoner here but no one has the right to determine how I feed." I uttered harshly.

"Carlisle, I just suggested she try what we do instead of...you know...taking advantage of Seth."

"Bella, our lifestyle is at best very difficult to adhere to, especially for someone accustomed to other ...appetites. If Jane wishes to try it, it should be something she volunteers to do. We'd never force her."

He gave her a patronizing look as if to say, you should know this.

It appeased me a little to see Bella ducking her head in mute abashment. But my abnormal thirst was at the forefront of my mind now.

I barely heard Carlisle's soft words in the midst of my increasing thirst. "Jane, would you like us to call Seth for you?"

I hesitated for long moments. I'd give anything to say no, to avoid facing him again, facing his damned irresistible scent and his unbiased protectiveness, and most of all the unfamiliar warmth of his dark chocolate eyes.

Also I was immensely ashamed to appear so vulnerable in front of _them. _But my increasingly rabid thirst would deny itself no longer.

My eyes dropped to the floor as I whispered. "Yes."

I just stopped myself from adding, _please hurry._


	13. Chapter 13

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**Characters belong to Stephenie Meye_r_**

_Chapter 13_

_Seth_

Days flew by as I rushed through the forest, the sound of my heavy paws pounding the forest floor providing a soothing rhythm to my muddled senses. The muted greens and earth tones of my beloved woods were just a blur, exactly my favourite way to view my natural habitat. It meant that I was running at my fastest which always afforded me a feeling of exhilaration.

But not this time.

This time I didn't notice anything around me. I just ran to numb my mind, to not have constant thoughts of her. Torturous to just have thoughts when I'd rather live moments.

Occasionally, I could detect when the others were monitoring me but I ignored them. The only time I stopped was to hunt, forlornly wondering if Jane would ever share this experience with me. She seemed to be crazy for my blood, so if she didn't want to, she'd never have to eat in the wild. I was ferociously glad that I healed so quickly.

Eventually I made my way back to the reservation and to my father's house, now my house. Of course, I'd destroyed my clothes again in my impetuous need to phase so now I trotted from the back trail leading out from the woods to get home.

I hadn't done much to the place since I'd come back home two weeks ago. It was still appointed in the warm, cozy brown and yellow furniture from when we'd all lived here.

Now I took a long, cold shower. After some minutes, the ice cold water reminded me of the oddly refreshing temperature of her skin. Everything constantly reminded me of her and it seemed these constant reminders would not abate until I was beholding her in the flesh.

I threw on another t-shirt and jeans then actually tried watching some tv but that was never my thing. I was always outside.

I decided this was a good time to go see my mom. Anytime anything remotely bothered me, I always felt better after talking to her and I hadn't called her since...everything.

I jogged over to her place where she lived now with her new husband Charlie.

Her face lit up when she opened the door to see me. She gave me a huge hug and for a moment I just wished my life was as normal as before, well as normal as it was with my phasing.

"Where on earth have you been! I was going to come up to the rez later if I hadn't heard from you."

I followed her as she led the way to the kitchen.

"Are you hungry? I just made dinner." She asked me routinely already knowing that I was_ always _hungry.

But I didn't really feel hungry, a first for me. Wow, things were really bad. But I nodded anyway.

"Sure, mom."

I needed my strength.

Charlie was on duty so it was just my mom there. I was a bit thankful for that as I had the task of telling her about my...situation. She hadn't got word from any of the guys yet so I decided to let her know what was going on before she heard it from someone else.

We didn't talk much as I wolfed down my food without tasting much of anything.

"So how's everyone back home. Haven't heard from anyone for a few days."

Mom asked as she cleared the table. I unwittingly bowed my head in my hands as I sat there, pondering how to tell my mother something like this. That I'd imprinted on a vampire, an entity she reviled deeply ever since she was rudely introduced into the reality that some myths were real.

"Seth, honey are you alright?"

I looked up to see her frozen there, a plate suspended in her hand as she watched me with vivid concern.

"Everything's fine, mom, well at least it will be."

She carefully set down the plate, planting her hands on the table and leaning towards me.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing's _wrong_. It's just that a ..ah.. a complicated development occurred a little while ago."

My mom watched me for a beat then her face broke into this heartwarming grin.

"It's happened, hasn't it? You've imprinted...my baby's imprinted."

I smiled back at her tentatively.

"Yeah...about that...well I did."

"Oh honey!" She gave me a quick, spontaneous hug.

"I knew this was always something you wanted...I told you it would happen at the right time, now you're a little older, a little more mature but you're still very young, mind you...you don't need to rush into anything..."

I just sat there, nodding senselessly as my mom chattered excitedly.

"So, who's the lucky girl?"

I swallowed a tad nervously. To my everlasting relief, there was a loud knocking on the door then.

My mom stood up to go answer it, wagging her finger at me.

"Don't move, I'll be right back."

She hurriedly went to see who it was.

"Jake!"

I heard her say in surprise.

"It's been so long since I've seen you around here."

"Hi Sue, great to see you, too. Is Seth here?"

"As a matter fact he's right in the kitchen."

I was up in a flash and strode to meet him then, not waiting for him to come inside. I asked anxiously,

"Jake, what is it?"

Jake looked at me over mom's head. He said meaningfully.

"She...needs you."

I immediately made to rush out the door but my mom caught my arm.

"Wait! Who's this 'she'?"

"Mom I'll explain everything later."

"Seth..." She complained worriedly.

But I was already running out the door, Jake following behind me as I shouted.

"Later, mom. I promise."

* * *

When I burst through the door breathing heavily, it seemed all the Cullens were gathered in the downstairs living area. Jake followed at a more relaxed pace. Of course Edward and Bella were not among them, being upstairs.

We'd run all the way from my mom's to the Cullens not bothering to phase.

"Hey guys." I said hurriedly, gazing up in the direction of the stairway.

Carlisle walked to me now, looking up at me benevolently and placing his hand on my shoulder as he guided me a little away from the others. Not that that would prevent our conversation from being overheard. He then looked a bit uncomfortable.

"Seth, I don't mean to intrude but are you ok with Jane...feeding from you like this?"

"Is that why she needs me? Of course I am."

I turned to go towards the stairs but Carlisle said, "We don't know how the venom will affect you, Seth. It might be somewhat complicated."

I said dismissively, anxious to go to her.

"I feel fine."

"Well I'd like to check you out, if you'll allow it. To make sure everything's as it should be. You need to make sure your system could cope with this."

"Sure, doc. _After."_

Carlisle nodded but I didn't even notice as I was already loping to the stairs taking them four at a time. Edward and Bella were standing in front the door, both of them with their arms folded, regarding me determinedly. I hurried up to them wondering why they didn't immediately move aside to let me pass.

I looked down at them quizzically.

Bella spoke softly.

"As our friend, friend to friend I feel I need to say this."

What was with everyone? Delays are not what I needed right now. And I was sure, neither did Jane.

"Cool, we'll chat later." I made to move forward but both of them stood there implacably, not moving an inch. Bella spoke again.

"Seth, she's using you. You can't just allow her to take advantage of you with no regard for your own well being. At least, you can encourage her to seek another source for her feeding. Maybe you can take her on a hunting trip."

I stared at Bella for a few seconds then I shook my head slightly.

"I really appreciate your concern but...we'll work something out. For now though she needs me...and nothing's going to keep me from helping her."

Bella still stood there, her mouth opening as if she were going to say more but Edward said softly, "Bella, he needs to resolve this on his own."

She nodded then, letting Edward guide her away. She muttered.

"Feel free to completely demolish the room if you need to phase to defend yourself..."

Shaking my head I sighed deeply, pushing open the door and shutting it firmly behind me.

* * *

I took another deep breath and turned to face her. She stood with her back to me, seemingly staring out the window at the darkening twilight. All I could see was the back of her pale blond head dwarfed as she was in that large cloak. Her slim shoulders were eerily still. She was the statue again, showing no vital signs of even breathing.

"Jane."

Of course she knew I was here. Yet I indulged myself by just saying her name. I so wanted to walk right up to her and wrap my arms around her. Yet I just stood there waiting for her to acknowledge my presence.

Thankfully I didn't have to wait too long. She turned to me slowly, her expressive eyes downcast, glued to the floor. She looked even paler since I last saw her five days ago. She wasn't even breathing! That's how much she didn't want to take from me what I willingly offered...She needed but did not want. She was ashamed that she needed my blood.

I murmured instinctively, "Breathe, baby. It's ok."

Her eyes raised to mine, surprise clouding her gaze before she quickly looked back down again. Yet I'd managed to glimpse the pure black colour of her eyes, an indication that she was starved. And I had been busy stuffing my face while my imprint suffered with hunger!

I went to her then. I had to barely stop myself from pulling her to me.

"Jane, please. Don 't be ashamed that you need this from me. It's nothing to feel ashamed about. I'm here."

Her delicate fingers grasped her throat then and she made this little rasping sound. She leaned towards me, inhaling deeply and rubbing the tip of her dainty nose up and down the length of my neck, lingering at the base of my throat. I closed my eyes shut, my hands tightly clenched at my sides. I would not touch her. This was not about my pleasure. It was all about providing something she needed.

Yet the sound of her voice shot straight to my groin when she said throatily.

"I want you, so much!"

I bit my lips hard, in an attempt to stifle the feral growl deep in my throat. My hands reached up and I gripped her to me, opening my eyes to gaze down at her. Our eyes locked and the rest of the world ceased to exist. But then she reminded me where we were, her usually lilting voice hoarse with need.

"But not here, Seth. I need you, but not here."

How could I forget there was a houseful of vampires who would be attuned to every whisper, every intimate moment that passed between us when she drank from me? This was really frustrating. I swore harshly. Then taking a deep breath, I said apprehensively, "Then we'll have to do this carefully. You...I...I mean we've got to do this methodically, alright. I'll...uh...I'll draw my blood for you...and you'll drink it...from a cup."

That should prevent me from reacting like this when she was so physically close. It'd also prevent her from taking too much thereby making me unconscious. But she shook her head furiously, barely whispering, "I don't...feed like that...I need you close to me...when I drink from you."

She slid her arms around my shoulders, her teeth grazing my neck. I groaned loudly , my long fingers interlacing at the small of her back as I pressed myself against her for a moment before resolutely pulling myself away. I unclasped my hands from behind her back, briefly burying my face in her satiny smooth hair where a few wisps had escaped from her elegant knot then stepping back a little.

Her black eyes held a hint of surprise but were mostly glazed over with acute hunger. That's what was crucial here. That I give her the sustenance she craved. Though she _did _seem to enjoy my touching her when she was in this state...and I wanted to….so much...

But I had to focus now. When she allowed me to touch her in every way that I wanted to, I'd ensure we had absolute and complete privacy. And that she wanted me to touch her for that alone, and not as a result of her hunger.

She stepped towards me now and I firmly clasped my hands behind my back determined that this should be as clinical as possible, that I wouldn't allow myself to feel anything more than what I was doing. Providing her with basically a necessity for her endurability.

She gripped my shoulders, going up on tip toe to reach her parted lips toward my neck. I bent my head a little to accommodate her...

There was a loud knock on the door.

What the fuck! Like seriously?

Jane darted back from me with a hiss as the door opened and Edward awkwardly stood there. He said quickly.

"I'm sorry but we've got to oversee this as we can't risk you becoming unconscious. Carlisle had a suggestion...like what you just said. That we draw your blood so there's no need for her to feed directly from you."

I was hardly listening to Edward's mutters, concentrating instead on the outright indignation and fury on Jane's face as she glared at him.

I just managed to say, "Uh Edward...where's Bella?"

Then he was convulsing on the floor, his face contorted in pain.

There were two screams from down the stairs. Alice and Bella.

"Edward don't!"

"Edward!"

In a flash Bella was crouched by his side where he gradually sat up, his face smoothening out from the pain.

Jane's dark eyes flashed with frustration as she growled at Bella.

Bella stood up, snapping derisively, "Try that again and I don't care how much everyone says you need to be kept alive, I _will_ kill you."

Jane began to move towards her but I quickly jumped in front of her, my hands grabbing her arms.

"Jane, don't." She was really volatile. She pushed against me violently and it took all my strength to hold her there. I grunted with the exertion of stopping her from going any further.

"Jane please...we'll get out of here, ok?"

She stopped struggling and looked at me.

"Yes, please. Let's leave. Now."

Edward was now standing by Bella and he said harshly.

"She's not going anywhere! She'll get away Seth. "

I ground out between my teeth without looking at them.

"I won't let her." Damn, they could have just allowed us a few minutes of warranted privacy. Then all of this unnecessary crap could've been avoided.

I watched Jane carefully. She was still livid and anxious...and _still_ hungry. I slid my arm about her cloaked shoulders and turning to them, I said, "We're leaving now."

Edward said, "I'm afraid we can't allow her to. It's too dangerous."

I said evenly, "This isn't up to either of you. Besides she'll be back. We just need some privacy." Could this get any more humiliating?

Jake shouldered his way into the room now, his hand going up as he said pacifyingly.

" Alright, Seth you go do...what you need to. Sam and I have agreed to patrol the borders with the help of Carlisle, Emmett and Jasper."

Jake glanced at Jane pointedly.

"There's no way you'll be able to get past our surveillance if you're thinking of trying anything."

I was looking at her all the while, looking for her reaction to what Jake just said but she had effortlessly went from being immensely angry to being absolutely stoic. Her passive expression betrayed nothing of what she felt. I glanced back at my well meaning friends exasperatedly.

"Ok then, we're going!"

Without another word, Edward and Bella swiftly turned their backs and within the blink of an eye they'd disappeared. Jake watched us warily as we walked past him, shaking his head a little. He muttered under his breath.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

Seriously couldn't wait to get as _far_ away from here as possible.

The rest of the Cullens studiously avoided looking at us as we made our way out of the house.

We walked together at a fast human pace as we made our way into the forest. We'd walked about a mile into the forest when she stopped abruptly.

"I can't remember feeling so humiliated in _all _my life!"

Her unexpected admission caused me to jump slightly. I felt exactly the same way. I glanced stealthily at her, taking in the pouting pale pink lips as she scowled furiously. That expression made her look like this mad, adorable, porcelain doll...then I went over the various delays and that final interruption together with the look on everyone's, namely Edward, Bella and Jake's, faces. Especially Jake's face.

I couldn't help it.

I burst out in laughter and when I started I couldn't seem to stop. And the more she frowned at me, the harder I laughed. I bent down, perching my hands on my knees as I practically howled with stomach clenching guffaws. I gasped between hysterical fits, "Did you...see the look...on Jake's face...when we left?"

I wasn't really expecting her to answer yet I almost choked when she said, her bell like voice making what she said sound even more surreal.

"Yes he looked scared. That I might rape you."

That did it. I collapsed to the ground with laughter, clutching my stomach and sprawling my jean clad legs out on the forest floor as I laughed helplessly. But I quieted down when I heard the most amazing sound...her tinkling musical laughter as she joined me. I glanced at her as she knelt a little bit away from where I lay and that laugh, that amusement on her face was worth every tense, uncomfortable, dangerous moment since I'd discovered her as my imprint. Her laughter tapered off as her ever apparent hunger sharpened her gaze. I remained lying there holding her eyes with mine as I beckoned to her. I whispered huskily,

"Come here."


	14. Chapter 14

**Author's Note: Ok, so I'm creating this story chapter by chapter. Can you tell?**

**Thank you for all of the reviews so far! : D**

**Please continue to review and any suggestions are welcome.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight**

**Chapter 14**

**_Jane_**

I didn't merely just go to him. I crawled to him on my hands and knees. I was focused on one thing and one thing right now and that was satisfying my delayed craving for ...him. Every ounce of my cold logic and reason had deserted me now. All I could comprehend in this moment was the alluring sound of his thumping heart, his addictive scent and the searing look in his dark chocolate eyes.

And when I tasted his blood, I forgot all else.

Eventually we made our way back to the Cullens. I resigned myself to not fighting the inevitability that I could not do what I was sent here to do. It was impossible now that I was kept under their guard. All I could do at this point was await Aro's arrival.

Days passed in this fashion where I stayed in that room, with Seth spending the most time with me and occasionally leaving to attend his humanly needs. For those few days I did not see one sight of either of my nemesises, Bella or Edward but I knew they were nearby.

The only time I came out was with Seth to feed. Almost everyday we made our trek into the forest which afforded us relative privacy from prying ears. Now that my...needs were being met on such a frequent basis, I no longer drank so greedily to the point where he got unconscious. I found myself feeling relieved that he did not have to suffer this.

Though he'd intercepted me on that fateful day eleven days ago I could not blame him for my aborted mission. I placed the sole blame on the much reviled Cullens.

As we passed those few days in the Cullens' home, Seth talked to me. A lot. It was mostly a one sided conversation as I merely listened without saying much but he didn't seem to mind. He didn't ask me about my motives for coming to Forks anymore the way I knew the others wanted him to. Instead he talked about his life in Forks and the five years he spent in New York with his sister.

I listened curiously as he spoke of his family with such reverence and...love. I'd never really delved into the structural framework of a human family. Such things were simply not a part of the realm to which I belonged. If I had a family it would obviously be the Volturi with Alec being my most cherished relative and Aro being my parental figure. The way he described his family was something thoroughly new to me and my mind struggled to grasp the seeming simplicity of such...love.

The way I felt as a member of the Volturi was passionate and loyal. But love and affection? That would be how I felt about Alec. And Aro to an extent.

Listening to him talk excitedly, I surmised that Seth was practically a baby to me! I mean I was two hundred years old. I'd seen, experienced and done things that he hadn't dreamt or conceived of doing. Aside from the supernatural component of his wolf dna, he was for all purposes and intents, human. A seemingly normal, happy young man with his share of tragedy yet the all encompassing and supportive love of his own relatives. He'd been nurtured from young to feel love, to accept it as his given, natural right. He was so...good. And any form of 'goodness' was foreign to me.

I wondered at the irony that would catapult_ me_ into his life like this. I didn't want or need this mysterious imprint connection to him, I'd never even had an inkling that such a thing existed. I knew for certain he could well do without my sadistic nature or the impending wrath of Aro. A cold fist of fear knotted in my chest as I contemplated him facing my Volturi peers. If it came to that, I'd do everything in my power to keep him out of the way with no one being the wiser.

Then it crossed my mind that he, Seth, might have experienced one thing I never had.

Sex.

I'd maimed, tortured, killed but that was the one experience I'd never had. It was not something that had aroused my curiosity, even throughout all the time I'd existed. What I'd witnessed at feeding frenzies had further contributed to my aversion. It seemed a violent thing to me. Yes I cherished violence but only when I was in control of that violence. The Volturi males wielded sex as a weapon in Volterra, using it against vampire and human females alike. They found gratification when they simperingly acquiesced. No one would control me like that, not even for a moment, I'd always thought.

Being amongst Aro's special rank of Volturi fortunately prevented me from being claimed as anyone's mate yet didn't protect me from advances of a sexual nature however. Felix had tried to put his claim on me sexually but I'd summarily refused much to his sulky disappointment. At least he had known when to cease with his unwanted advances. I couldn't say the same for Demetri. He had approached me once much to his detriment.

After that no one had dared ever approached me like that again. Hence my whispered nickname was born, frigid Jane. Yet no one dared whisper it to my face.

So sex was the one experience I'd never had. Not as a mortal or immortal.

Now I thought...I thought sex could be pleasing with him.

Much to my mortification, I vividly remembered that recent night where I'd tried to seduce him. Contrary to what I had told him a few days ago, that had been the most singularly humiliating moment of my existence. He had affected me more than I thought anyone could.

He was the most easy going, cheerful being I'd ever met, not in any way being forceful. He made me feel a bit at ease in contrast to how I always had been tense and constantly in a combative frame of mind. He made me feel comfortable. And yet strangely...hot and bothered all at the same time. It was like he always made me want to be physically close to him. I was not immune to the fact that he was...stimulated every time I fed from him.

I wondered again if he'd ever had sex before. Of course I couldn't tell and I would _not_ randomly ask him that! That question burned my curiosity though.

In my mental surmises, I'd been listening intently to him all the while but now his husky voice tapered off slightly and as I watched him, his eyes drooped close and his head lolled to the side a bit where he was leaning against the headboard of the large bed. I instantly panicked thinking something was wrong with him then I remembered he needed to sleep.

He looked awkward there, the angle in which he slept. So slowly, and as gently as possible I propped some of the pillows beneath his head, suddenly glad for the bed. It meant he could stay here with me while he slept.

The door abruptly opened and _she _strolled in the room, catching me as I was adjusting Seth comfortably. I halted in my adjustments, hovering above him almost straddling him with my knees planted on either side of his bare stomach. I came off from my precarious perch atop him quickly, planking myself in a seated position on the edge of the bed with my back to her.

I heard someone whisper downstairs, "Knock first, Bella."

As if she could be bothered with that.

I turned to glance at her. "What do you want?"

She stood there watching me, her face for once not betraying her hostility towards me.

"Seth's exhausted. So I came up here to keep an eye on him." We both knew she was really here to keep an eye on me.

I glanced down at Seth, and my eyes subconsciously remained glued to his face, taking in how his expressive, handsome features relaxed in sleep making him look boyish. I spoke my thoughts aloud.

"I won't hurt him, you know."

Bella said softly, "Maybe you won't. But you can...not intentionally...but you still can nonetheless."

I kept my studiously passive gaze on Seth. Looking at him, even in slumber, provided me with a certain level of calm yet I softly hissed the words anyway.

"You and the others on the other hand, I would willingly."

Infuriatingly she said, almost in this sympathetic tone, "I know, you've demonstrated that all too well."

She walked to the window then, her back facing me now as she glanced out at the forest. I hated the ease with which an enemy of mine could do that. Disregard me as if I had no possession of my coveted maim inducing power.

"Don't you ever get tired?"

"Excuse me?" I snarled frostily wondering at her seeming stupidity. Did our kind ever grow tired?

"I mean of all that agony...and death that permeates Volterra. Have you ever been out of there and experienced the world besides being on some...mission for the Volturi?"

I decided to completely ignore her. But then I really thought about what she said. What did the world hold for me? People like her and Seth with loving, families who supported all their choices? Such things I'd long lost hope for. I didn't want to think of humans as anything more than fodder and prey, didn't want to dwell on the fact that they were sentient, valuable beings. That they possessed facets of living that were forever beyond my reach. Besides I treasured my position in Volterra and wouldn't trade it for anything the world had to offer.

This sojourn in Forks, meeting Seth and being confronted with this baffling connection would just become a distant memory when I returned all too soon to Italy.

I said to her now making my voice as bland and bored as possible, "The world has nothing to offer me."

She shook her head, turning to face me now.

"You're wrong. If you gave Seth a true chance he'd be the best person to show you what you've been missing."

"The only thing I miss right now is my power so I could get you to shut the hell up. You don't know anything about me or what I should be missing!"

She really was audacious and overbearing. What she said hit a nerve with me given my previous thoughts on my lack of sexual experience. I wondered if she could have guessed or if her unwanted observations applied to a broader, more generalized meaning. It sure as hell didn't matter. She was continuously getting on my nerves.

She still kept talking, her large golden eyes now filled with this pitying look that would have nauseated me if I were able to actually feel such a thing.

"I know you've suffered a lot...that Aro used your suffering as a tool to manipulate you..."

"How would you know anything like that?!"

She looked down a bit guiltily now and right then I knew her suffocatingly annoying spouse had been digging through my head. Did that mean my mental defenses had crumbled? What else did he invasively extract from my mind? Had all my plans been revealed?

" Keep out of my mind, you bastard!"

I knew he'd easily be able to hear me as I was certain he was somewhere close. These two never seemed to be too far from each other.

"He didn't see why you came here if that's what you're wondering."

I glanced at her hardly daring to believe what she said. She changed the subject at once, saying,"Alice wanted to know if you'd like her to get you some new clothes."

I saw her offer as another opportunity to get out from under their suffocating supervision. So I said sweetly, "No thank you. I have the amenities with which to make the necessary purchases myself. Seth can take me."

To my surprise she appeared to ponder this a moment. Then she said, "He can do that, along with Alice and myself, of course."

I sneered, "Of course."

Then I automatically looked at her garments in a detached manner, admitting they flattered her beautifully. She wore a mauve long sleeved silk dress that fitted snugly then flared out from her hips ending just above her knees with stockings. Her skin glimmered softly from where the afternoon sun shone through the large reflective window. Grudgingly she was one of the more exquisite vampires I'd ever seen with her lustrous brown tresses and large golden eyes.

She looked behind me then where I was seated at the edge of the bed and I turned around to meet Seth's warm eyes on my face.

"Hey." His voice was even more normally husky now that he'd just awakened.

"Hey." I repeated his phrase inanely as I stared back at him.

He grinned. I felt my lips tugging up in response. I found myself in the in past few days readily if involuntarily, smiling back at him. He illicited that strange response in me, to smile at him, at his light words or gestures. Hardly had I ever smiled just casually rather I mostly smiled during or after my torture of someone.

Bella said, "I hope you had a good rest, Seth."

To my gratification, his eyes never left my face as he mumbled his response, "Yeah, it was great."

I was barely aware of Bella leaving the room as Seth sat up to face me. And I was shocked at my thoughts now. I was thinking that I wish Aro wasn't due in just two days, that I had just a bit more time with him.


	15. Chapter 15

**Author's note: This has been the most difficult chapter to write so far! I went out on a stretch here...Hope you guys like it. Let me know what you all think!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight**

Chapter 15

_Volterra_

The vast room was unusually devoid of the normally large number of guards at this particular time. There was no living being present whatsoever. Only two of the most important vampires who upheld the powerful Volturi empire. Aro and Caius. Aro had decided that they should immediately convene. The two ancient beings conferred quietly the only witnesses to their impromptu meeting the ancient marble sculptures that dotted the vast stone room. Or so Caius thought. Only Aro was aware that Chelsea was present.

He had decided it was time for Caius to be apprised of what he truly intended. He couldn't let Marcus know until everything was executed and set in place. The facts of this plot he had embarked on was a sensitive area where Marcus was concerned.

"My brother, we have reached perilous times where we note ever stronger covens uprising. One only has to think of what occurred a short five years ago to concede that point. That we could not as easily and readily gain that which was supposed to be ours is in itself a testament to our weakening defenses. So now I have embarked on a path certain to afford us the ultimate power that none whatsoever can contest. It was a power I sought centuries ago to capture but alas it had eluded me then. Now fate has bestowed upon us another opportunity to claim it and I intend it shall not pass us by again."

Caius was at a lost, he had no inkling of what Aro spoke.

"Enlighten me, brother. What is this power of which you speak? And what does it have to do with us sending literally our most offensive weapon into the realm of the Cullens, the most talented coven excluding ours?"

"Ahh, that is the crux of it all. Only Jane can bring us that which we need. For centuries she has consistently proven her absolute loyalty and devotion." _Miraculously even without Chelsea's persuasion, _Aro added silently.

He rubbed his stark white hands together, his clouded ruby gaze glimmering almost maniacally as Caius listened intently. Then he said bluntly, deriving entertainment from Caius' outraged amazement.

"One of the Quileute wolves has imprinted on Jane."

With that same maniacal grin, Aro merely observed as Caius hissed and spat profanities. His ruby eyes were wide with shock as he sputtered, "That's impossible!"

"Not a regular occurrence but it has certainly happened before."

Aro patiently waited until Caius calmed down which he eventually did. Only then did he begin recounting what happened millenia ago, what he'd never disclosed to anyone. Ever.

" Don't you remember, dear brother, precisely one and a half thousand years ago when we embarked on our first North American trip to scout some nomads with potential talents?"

Caius nodded slowly,

"That was when Didyme was killed...by the resisting nomads."

Aro nodded, his fingers making a steeple under his chin as his eyes seemed to lose focus. Lose focus of the current time, going back, way back to when he made the decision to kill his own sister.

"What if I told you it wasn't any nomad that killed her. That in our time spent hunting those nomads I discovered a great secret, one that has been literally tormenting me with its potential on bestowing even more power to the Volturi. You see, dear Caius I was approached then by a creature that I had no knowledge of then. A vampire wolf hybrid! I saw for myself through its mind that the vampire wolf hybrid was a result of a wolf imprinting on a female vampire! If I hadn't rummaged through that hybrid's mind, I would find it impossible to believe myself. What amazed me however was that this hybrid's blood possessed mysterious components. You see, this hybrid was originally just a wolf and at that time we were passing through it seemed that Didyme had briefly left us on one of her hunting trips. She came across the wolf who imprinted on her...and from whom she drank. He did not die as a result of her feeding but became even stronger, he had been a chief and had actually been told by his forefathers that the imprinting of a wolf upon a vampire was possible. That story is now lost to the presently existing wolves. Guaranteed it happened once in a blue moon but that was not the important thing I learned . The creature also knew from its forefathers that when a vampire becomes an imprintee of a wolf, and that vampire feeds from that wolf, when the venom is released into the wolf's bloodstream it alters the wolf's blood permanently and that blood, my dear Caius when consumed by any other being whether it be vampire or human bestows upon that being the ability to transform into a wolf, another hybrid if you will. With immunity against any psychic talents whilst in its wolf form. I saw this for myself from the wolf's mind since he had memorized his ancestor's actual recounting of such a phenomenon. Up to this very day, I have tried my best to hunt that ancient couple down, the first wolf and vampire imprinted pair but alas to no success. The wolfen tribes at that time were vigorously hunting them down as well as they were outraged that such an occurrence could bestow such a transformation on a vampire. The hybrid was even then being hunted by his own brothers.

He freely offered his blood to me to for whatever use I saw fit if only he be allowed to be near Didyme always. But as we both know, Didyme was already in love. With Marcus. She outrightly refused to have anything to do with this wolf. She already felt immensely guilty that she'd been sneaking off to continuously feed from his blood. She had grown addicted, you see. But her love for Marcus proved stronger than that addiction. Right before my very eyes to my utter shock, my sweet and innocent sister killed the wolf rather than forsake Marcus. I'd never thought she had it in her, to so coldly and brutally kill. It was the strangest assassination I'd ever beheld. The creature, even as tears trailed down his face just meekly succumbed to her will. I might have admired her tenacity in any other situation than this one. She'd already been planning to escape the Volturi together with Marcus. Her impending desertion together with robbing me of Marcus' power and her blatant destruction of such a rare creature who could have provided such an excellent benefit for us all overrode my brotherly love. I killed her."

Caius gasped, "_You_ killed her!"

Aro sighed a bit forlornly. _Of course_, that was the only thing Caius heard in the entirety of this story.

"Yes I did it. She was about to corrode my empire before it had barely begun to stand on its own feet...and robbed it of a priceless amenity."

He became inflamed with violent animation as he contemplated his plans, now brought to life again by this new imprinting circumstance.

"Think of the special armies I could create with that mutation, invincible and so physically strong as to overcome any psychic capabilities of any enemy."

Then he added, a note of remorse evident though it was unclear if it was genuine or just for Caius' benefit.

"She had to die...I led Marcus to believe that it was a nomadic vampire that did the deed."

Aro added ominously. "As he shall continue to believe."

Caius hesitated and all it took was that one, minute hesitation. Aro simply inclined his head to the side and Chelsea came forth from the shadows focusing intently on Caius. Once he glanced into the depths of her red gaze, he could not look away. Aro had always been intently aware that if afforded the chance, Caius would attempt to overthrow him as the principal ruler of Volterra. He didn't have to grasp his hand to see the wheels turning in Caius' head as he had digested that piece of information. Thinking he could probably tell Marcus how his beloved mate had truly died at the hands of her own brother so that he could gain Marcus' support.

Aro drawled in a bored tone, "Now my dear Caius as I was saying, Marcus cannot know how Didyme truly died. Don't you agree?"

Caius blinked harshly and turned to look at Aro, voicing monotonely, "Of course, Master."

Aro nodded brusquely at Chelsea and she meekly bowed her dark golden head as she departed the room. Caius spoke hesitantly now all rancor and accusation stripped from his tone.

"But...but...how did you know a wolf would...imprint...on Jane?"

Aro smiled slowly.

" In our confrontation with the Cullens, I noticed then that one of the wolves was fixated on Jane. I knew it was a heavy gamble to send her on this mission. Yet miraculously and very fortunately, my suspicion proved accurate. I had her followed, just to be sure. And observed with utmost caution. I had Santiago trail her, his vampiric scent disguised by a special concoction gifted to me centuries ago. I hardly ever use it myself and why should I have cause to with such talented protection as we are blessed with? Back to the point at hand, Santiago contacts me upon the hour...everything is going as I have wished concerning the imprinting...Jane is addicted to the creature's blood. Sending her on that mission to assassinate the two alphas was quite simply just a ruse. To make sure she came into contact with the wolf in question. She believes that we shall be meeting her in exactly two days...It takes about a month for the venom to convert the wolf's blood, so we won't be joining her in two days. "

Aro laughed delightedly, "My dear Jane attempted to kill him though I'd instructed Santiago to intervene if she came too close to doing that. But that might have upset the whole strategy, thankfully it was unnecessary for him to intervene. Now that she's drunk from him, he is an invaluable commodity to us all. Soon we shall be going for our precious Jane _and_ to gain the some of the most talented members ever in addition to our hybrid."

Aro draped his arm around Caius' shoulders as they leisurely strolled out of the room.

"Now we have some counter insurance to deal with, a small matter of keeping the Cullens' allies pre-occupied so that should the Cullens attempt to gain support against me, their calls for help shall go unheeded. I've sent a team with Demetri..."

The echo of Aro's high voice droned off as he left the huge, dim room where one still figure remained concealed in the deepest shadows. It seemed Aro had been the one kept in the dark as well regarding who was in the room.

Alec slowly unfolded his rigid arms, his face set in stone.


	16. Chapter 16

**Author's note: Thank you for your reviews and please continue to review : )**

**Disclaimer: I don't own twilight**

Chapter 16

**_Seth_**

She stood before me, for once without that heavy cloak obstructing her slender form. She was casually outfitted in a dark blue cotton baby tee and dark slim fitting jeans and I had a hard time keeping my eyes away from her. We were in the forest again and she'd just had her fill...of me. We simply stood there, close to each other, my hand gratefully cradling the side of her porcelain face as she closed her eyes, her tiny nose pressed into my neck. It was beautiful weather more than usual at this time of year. I was thankful for that as I could leisurely admire how the hot, August sun beams peeping through the towering pines created dancing, diamond patterns on her pale skin.

"Mmm..."

I loved when she made contented purrs like that. Maybe loved it a bit too much as I felt myself twitch in response. I tried to move back a little, not wanting to make her uncomfortable but she held me firmly to her. She mumbled,

"No, please don't move. You smell so good...can't we just stand here for a while?"

"Yeah...like forever."

She looked up at me then, her shining eyes seeming for all the world a bit drowsy. Though she seemed somehow saddened for barely a few seconds before her face smoothened into a passive mask again. I was ecstatic to note that her eyes held something like affection as she stared at me.

Then I frowned slightly when I noticed what looked like tiny golden flecks in the centre of her eyes. I'd never noticed that before. She whispered, "What?"

I shook my head. "Your eyes are so different from any I've ever seen."

She looked down then as if she were trying to avoid looking at me. I gently placed my hand on her chin and she allowed me to tilt her face up, though her eyes remained downcast.

"I think it's beautiful."

She met my eyes squarely. "How can _you_ think that? It represents all the human blood I've consumed. All the lives snuffed out to satisfy my hunger."

"It's a part of you and that still doesn't affect how I see you."

I added hopefully, "But you know, maybe we can change that...you were great today amongst...humans...you weren't even tempted by their blood."

It was kind of difficult to view people from her perspective but it was something I willingly tried to do nonetheless.

Earlier today, it'd been like a shopping expedition or something. A group of seven of us including Jane, myself, Bella, Edward, Alice, Jasper, and Emmett had embarked on a 'mission' to simply get a change of clothing. I understood their agitation though. We couldn't risk an 'accident' occurring.

We'd went out of the city taking two cars where Jane and I had went with Edward and Bella, all of us wearing the requisite sunglasses. I'd mostly wore mine to make Jane more comfortable wearing hers as she'd put up a bit of a fuss about this.

You could still practically see the glee in Alice's eyes though as we'd all descended on an exclusive boutique, set apart from the bustle of the main shopping area. They'd selected the location well. Less people milling about. And less area for Bella to focus her shield. You could have sworn all of a sudden Jane was Alice's new best friend the way Alice had the shop assistant scurrying back and forth with armfuls of outfits she'd selected. I was not alone in my disbelief as Jane herself seemed to be in a state of shock at Alice's enthusiastic suggestions. All the while, she had gripped my hand tightly as I stood beside her which I hadn't minded in the least. Jane recovered more quickly than I had, calmly moving to a rack of simple tees and another one with denim, her hand still holding me to her, not that I would have let go anyway.

"But Jane! You would look really gorgeous in this dress."

Alice said sweetly probably hoping flattery would soften Jane towards her exuberant makeover mode. Jane had said dryly, picking up a couple of each in the tees and jeans.

"I'm fine with these."

Alice had turned to me almost desperately, "Seth tell her how wonderful she'll look in this."

I felt a bit sorry for Alice, seeing how Jane had most likely shot through her efforts to secure another opportunity at shopping with deliberate disinterest. Would have loved to see how that short, swingy dress Alice held up would have looked on her though...Jane abruptly released my hand informing the shop lady loftily that she was ready to check out her items.

Alice said quickly, "Well, Seth?!"

I glanced at Jane saying, "It...doesn't matter."

Alice glared at me while Emmett had smirked, saying under his breath, "He's whipped..."

At that moment the door had swung open and a large group of laughing women entered the store, their eyes immediately drawn to us. Jane had turned to look at them and I'd gone to her side instantly. I noticed Bella and Edward becoming that much more alert as well as they carefully observed Jane's reaction to being in such proximity to the...humans.

As I'd watched her, Jane had glanced at the group of women lingeringly then at me, with a small frown. She'd looked at the women again this time in a somewhat hostile manner. It was...confusing as she seemed to size them up in a totally non-hungry way. I'd never even glanced at them, I was so occupied with watching her. She'd suddenly snapped, "Can we leave now?", summarily paying for her purchases and quickly walking towards the exit, at a human pace. She'd moved so unexpectedly that she was the one leading the way out as she was forced to pass among the women, who darted back to let her pass.

It was only after we left and were on our way back, that I really realized how easily she'd managed to move among them without being lured by their blood.

Now as we stood in our own remote spot in the dense forest, Jane shook her head slowly.

"You don't easily give up habits that have been ingrained in you for such a long time..."

She trailed off, her fingers almost absently rubbing my bare chest as her eyes lost a bit of focus, seeming to see things I had no comprehension of. It was like she had no idea what she was doing to me with just her fingertips. I was _always _in an aroused state around her. Trying my best to suppress my instinctive response, I focused on what was really important at this moment.

"It might not be easy but it'll be worth it...I can provide you with my blood...anytime...you don't have to go back to practicing that way of survival."

Her eyes became aware again as she gazed at me now, the corners of her pale pink lips lifted ever so slightly.

"You are so...optimistic. It's a strange thing to me, how you could see the best in the worst things. If you knew the things I'm capable of...you would know how impossible it was for me to ever exist outside of the Volturi."

She darted back out of my arms now, turning away from me as she continued, "This is hopeless, Seth. I can't, no I won't forsake the only life I've ever known..."

In two strides, I was facing her again. I couldn't bear not to see her face, to have her turned away from me no matter that she was still so physically close.

"Hey, everything's going to be fine, alright? You don't need to worry yourself with this...now. If...when... you're able to go home..." I swallowed deeply a few times but forced myself to continue. Not so much forced as saying what she needed to hear. If she left, I knew I would be nothing but a shell of myself. I refused to dwell on that.

"I'll never try to stop you, if that's what'll make you happy."

She looked up at me then and we just stared at each other for long moments. I felt the inexorable pull toward her, to touch her...it was like she was a magnet to me. I couldn't ever get close enough. I placed my hands on her delicate shoulders, feeling her chilled skin under the thin material of her shirt. I loved the contrast of our temperatures and now as I frantically thought of her leaving, of not knowing when she might be irrevocably out of my grasp, I wanted to feel that contrast on a whole new level. If she'd let me...

"I'd like to try something with you."

She continued to stare steadily into my eyes but I mentally prepared myself for her rebuff, expecting her to automatically flinch away. Or worse.

I slowly, ever so slowly lowered my face toward her making sure she was aware of my intent. This perplexed look seeped into her expression then, it was the most endearing thing to see as if she had no idea what I was about to do. Then I touched my warm lips to her chilled pouty ones and this contrast was the best feeling yet.

* * *

_**Jane**_

My seventh day in the Cullens' prison cell hadn't gotten off to a good start. First of all, I was hungry. Yet my hunger was to be delayed due to their sudden stipulation that getting new clothes was the more urgent thing to do. I just wanted to be alone with...Seth. And not just to feed. Being around him soothed me, made the bitter, dull circumstance of being held against my will by the Cullens easier to bear. Truly if it weren't for him, sheer insanity might have completely claimed me by now.

I didn't want to go shopping. I didn't want to wear these silly spectacles to hide my eyes from humans. Edward and Bella had insisted that we shop at the earliest convenient hour as it would have less humans about. In Volterra, I never had any need to disguise what I was and any attempt at doing so now highly annoyed me.

They all eagerly piled into two of their flashy vehicles and I sought Seth's hand beside me, grasping it tightly as Edward and Bella occupied the front area. At least that chirpy little one Alice was in another vehicle. Her palpable excitement made me even more nervous than I already felt. This was the first time that I pretended to be a normal human among humans and I was nervous enough as it was.

But I wasn't spared her bubbly anticipation for too long as we entered a small, elegantly appointed salon which had an atmosphere of exclusivity. Alice had rushed ahead of us, immediately accosting the attendant and with almost inhuman pace selecting a variety of frothy, sheer and colourful garments. I never wore colourful garments preferring solid, dark colours and her audacity was sorely beginning to get on my nerves.

Didn't she have enough women in her coven to exert her apparent love of fashion on without imposing on me?

I stood there, shell shocked as she showed me garment after garment. These things meant very little to me. Wanting to get this entire shenanigan over with, I abruptly found the plainest, darkest clothing I could find in the frivolous boutique. She actually looked hurt, not that I could care in the least, even turning to Seth as if he could ever convince me to don any of those ridiculous, frilly things meant to pass as clothes. His eyes lingered almost longingly on a wispy bit of material and I pondered for the barest millisecond if it would please him a lot to see me in something like that. What the hell was I thinking anyway? No way I'd ever put on something that embarassingly _bare_.

Then that herd of giggling females made their way into the boutique, their laughter becoming even more aggravatingly pronounced as they caught sight of the Cullens...and Seth. I don't know how or why but the way a couple of them looked at him, almost in this salivating way set my teeth on edge. I caught a whiff of their scent and while not exactly unappealing, I wasn't tempted by their blood either not when I had my own brand of addictive elixir standing right next to me. I couldn't stand one second longer of observing these simpering fools and I made the necessary transaction hastily, stalking out of there lest I made an attempt to see if Bella really had her shield up.

I knew my reaction had been irrational, even given my volatile nature. I might even go so far to say I had been a bit territorial regarding...him. It made me uncomfortable realizing how much he had affected me...

Now I was curled around his hot body, standing here with no interruptions or intrusions with his scent in me and around me...and I was infinitely scared. I knew when I returned to Volterra, I'd never see him again. Yet Volterra seemed so distant now not only just in miles but like lifetimes away. I just wanted to stand here, to forget what I was, forget who he was, only focusing on the here and now. But the niggling fear kept bothering me. The time I had known him was just a brief moment in the endless moments of my existence yet somehow against all odds it was becoming the more meaningful moment making everything else meaningless. The reason I came here in the first place, the Cullens' plans, Aro's impending arrival, all of that was just becoming meaningless to me. And it scared the hell out of me.

Here and now, I told myself, just focus on the here and now. I couldn't help sighing contentedly. Feeling him move back a little, I gripped him to me tighter, murmuring, "No, please don't move. You smell so good...can't we just stand here for a while?"

His deep voice resounded through me as he spoke, I was pressed up so tightly against him.

"Yeah...like forever."

I had to look into his eyes then if only to see if he really meant that. But then what was the point anyway? This _couldn't _be forever.

He seemed to read my thoughts as he frowned a bit.

I whispered apprehensively, "What?"

"Your eyes are so different from any I've ever seen."

I couldn't continue to look at him then. Yet another difference between us pin pointing how incompatible we were, how wrong this was. His sturdy fingers were feather light against my chin.

"I think it's beautiful."

I tried to ignore the fluttery, tingling sensation that his husky whispered words produced in me.

He was missing the most crucial point buried forever in something as simple as the colour of my eyes. Seemed I had to spell this out for him. I wasn't ashamed of my lifestyle yet I wanted him to truly see me for who I was.

"How can _you_ think that? It represents all the human blood I've consumed. All the lives snuffed out to satisfy my hunger."

In spite of myself, his response stunningly pleased me.

"It's a part of you and that still doesn't affect how I see you."

But then he continued.

"But you know, maybe we can change that...you were great today amongst...humans...you weren't even tempted by their blood."

He completely missed the point. What he didn't realise was that I was frozen and rooted in the customs I had adopted as my way of life. I was unchangeable. That fact had always soothed me and unsettled me at the same time.

"You don't easily give up habits that have been ingrained in you for such a long time..."

I thought of just a fraction of the many things I had done, that I'd never paused to really evaluate or ponder and how these very things would indeed seem monstrous and totally distasteful to him.

"It might not be easy but it'll be worth it...I can provide you with my blood...anytime...you don't have to go back to practicing that way of survival."

I couldn't help my smile. It was so strange how his capacity for constant cheer would irritate me if it were anyone else spouting that but with him it seemed so...right.

"You are so...optimistic. It's a strange thing to me, how you could see the best in the worst things. If you knew the things I'm capable of...you would know how impossible it was for me to ever exist outside the Volturi."

I couldn't even begin to contemplate a life outside of Volterra. Merely by entertaining such a far fetched thought made me feel as if I were betraying my duty as a Volturi.

I swiftly turned away from him, experiencing that deep fear again.

"This is hopeless, Seth. I can't, no I won't forsake the only life I've ever known..."

Just like that he was in front of me, trying vainly to reassure me.

"Hey, everything's going to be fine, alright? You don't need to worry yourself with this...now. If...when... you're able to go home..."

He paused then and I could see he was struggling with what he had to say.

"I'll never try to stop you, if that's what'll make you happy."

Right then I realized he would always seek my happiness above his own. I could have told him it was a wasted effort, that I could only find savage satisfaction in my existence, not happiness. And I found it unfair suddenly. That his depth of feeling for me was mandatory to him and seemingly not a choice. What had I done to this wolf's life?

I felt his large, warm hands on me then. The heat of his skin was beginning to feel like the most natural thing against my coldness. He whispered huskily,

"I'd like to try something with you."

I immediately sensed that he was anxious but I just focused on staring calmly at him, curiously wondering what he wanted to do.

Slowly, so slowly he began to lower his face toward mine.


	17. Chapter 17

**Author's note: Thank you, thank you all so much for reviewing, following and adding this story to your favourites : D It means a lot...and it means I'm motivated to continue this story : ) Please continue to show some love, in the form of your reviews and/or suggestions!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the twilight series**

Chapter 17

_Jane_

I felt his large, warm hands on me then. The heat of his skin was beginning to feel like the most natural thing against my coldness. He whispered huskily, "I'd like to try something with you."

I immediately sensed that he was anxious but I just focused on staring calmly at him, curiously wondering what he wanted to do.

Slowly, so slowly he began to lower his face toward mine. I was briefly confused but I caught on at the last moment.

Then his hot full lips were on me...tasting me.

I stood completely still as his mouth moved softly over mine. For once there was no ready reaction from me. I just simply stared at him as he kissed me gently. Over and over. His long eye lashes brushed against mine as he opened his eyes and gazed directly at me. The combination of our locked gazes together with the sensation of his hot mouth tugging gently at my lips caused this pleasurable tingly feeling to bloom deep down in the pit of my stomach. Instinctively I parted my lips and then I was tasting him too. Tasting his lips, his tongue...I growled into his mouth. As I did this he groaned against my lips, his hands grasped me, pulling my body snugly against him so that I felt every facet of his own hard body. Felt his body against mine in a completely new way from when I was feeding. Because now with our mouths moving in sync with each other, I was much more aware of the feel of him against me, where his hard arousal was pressed against my stomach. I wasn't still anymore but all sudden movement as I squirmed against him, rising up on tip toes and grabbing his arms as I sought to get even closer still. He seemed to know exactly what I needed as he hoisted me up by my hips and pressed me fully against him. I followed his lead, slowly gliding my tongue into his mouth then wrapping my denim clad legs around his waist as he held me to him. This was...I didn't know how to describe it but I sure as hell liked it!

I couldn't get enough of him. Not nearly enough...my mouth moved repeatedly, tirelessly over his grateful that I didn't need to pause for even a breath. I was so wrapped up in and around him, that I completely forgot that he needed to.

He kissed me one more time resoundingly before holding my face and gently prying his mouth away from mine. He chuckled breathlessly, breathing a bit hard.

I continued to press kisses along his sturdy jaw, murmuring, "No...don't stop."

"Jane...I need to...breathe a bit."

Realization hit me then. Of course! I was immediately repentant, my words spilling out of me instinctively.

"Oh Seth! I'm so sorry!"

I unclasped my legs from behind his back and slid off him, taking a few steps back but he reached out and grabbed me by my waist, pulling me back into his hot embrace.

"No, don't ever apologize for that. I feel like I should be apologizing to you...I mean I _don't_ want to stop either."

I sighed softly pressing my lips against his neck, still feeling the sensation of his wondrously hot mouth moving over mine.

I couldn't think.

I couldn't stop touching him.

His face, his soft hair, the expanse of his bare, sculpted chest before me. I loved the silky firm texture of his skin. My tongue replaced my lips now as I licked his neck, savoring the taste of his skin. It was a constant marvel to me how something so hot could feel so pleasant to me. My fingertip trailed lightly down his neck to his chest, over the sculpted ridges of his bare stomach.

All my senses felt raw and needy. I'd never kissed or been kissed like that and I wanted to repeat the experience right now just to recapture those sensations. It was all so liberating, feeling like this, being touched like this. By _him. _

It was the most natural thing to find his lips again, my circumspect mind had already memorized every detail of our previous kiss, so that I was kissing him now as if I had done it...well all my life. He returned my kissing eagerly, his tongue stroking mine rhythmically almost in time to the frantic beat of his thundering heart. His large hot hands were sensuously foraging up and down my back, rubbing the soft material of my t-shirt up and down my skin. With what remnant of rationality that I possessed, I ended our searing kiss this time remembering that he needed to breathe. I even tried it myself, a couple deep breaths, in and out as Seth looked down at me, this huge, _happy_ grin on his face. His dark chocolate eyes shimmered with amusement as he observed my breathing efforts.

I wanted to be affronted that he was laughing at me but I felt so good I just couldn't retain my pout at his amusement. Instead I laid my head against his chest, simply wrapping my arms around him, hugging him to me.

He pressed his face down into my hair which was clasped in its usual chignon albeit a bit more messy than it normally was. I could feel the reverberation of his voice as he said my name where my head lay against him.

"Jane?"

I leaned back to look at him. He gazed down into my face with the most intense expression engulfing his exotic features. If my heart could beat, I was certain it would beat at a furious tempo just for the way he was looking at me.

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"For letting me...kiss you like that. For letting me experience you like that..."

If he only knew that I wanted to experience _more_. With him. Always I had been molded to touch others solely in a psychically aggressive way never needing or wanting to explore any sort of interaction on a physical level. It took this man, this mystical wolf with whom I shared some mysterious connection to open me up to this whole new realm of temptation.

I had been completely unaware of everything while he...while we kissed, so now I was shocked when I felt a few droplets of liquid hitting my bare arms. I raised my arm wonderingly where a few drops of water beaded then dripped from my marble like skin, then looked up at the small bits of sky visible from the large branches and boughs from the towering trees. It had gotten cloudy as we had stood here and now showers of rain were beginning to cascade down, seeping through the lacy leaves.

Seth grabbed my hand, laughingly saying, "Let's run for it."

But I remained rooted where I was, not moving when he tugged my hand to go. He turned back to look at me curiously as I stood there, the previously dry forest floor becoming soddy under my boots.

I had turned my face up to the sky, taking avid note of how the rain felt as it hit my face and arms. It was...nice. Like very tiny, very soft misty explosions on my skin.

I smiled and looked at Seth, as he became drenched from the heavy downpour, his hand still gripping mine tightly as we stood there. His amusement tapered off as he looked contemplatively at me now.

"You've never really been in the rain, have you?"

I shook my head slightly, my murmur softer that the raindrops richocheting off me, "I can't remember if I ever was...in my ...human time. And well I have never really ventured out of my Volterra fortress except for ...missions."

Where I certainly hadn't spent time standing in the rain.

Seth sighed softly then and I really looked at him now. The rain falling from the soaring trees, falling on the ferns and creating soft muddy trails between the vivid greenery was pretty.

But it was nothing compared to the rain falling on Seth.

Soaking his soft, black hair, trailing down his sculpted, bare chest, creating glistening rivulets on his intricate, hard musculature, making his dark denim trousers outline every strong sinew of his long lean legs..._That was a beautiful sight._

I'd never really focused much on a man's body but I think in all probability, Seth's was a prime example of how a man's body should be. I knew he was very much aware of my appraisal as he ducked his head briefly, his cheeks becoming reddened as he raised his head to glance back at me. The combination of his obvious gorgeousness and his humble shyness was so refreshing. So refreshing from the cold arrogance and smugness I was used to in Volterra.

Seth swallowed harshly as he glanced down at me, before looking away quickly at anything else but at me. Frowning I glanced down at myself and immediately noticed how my wet thin shirt had molded itself to my bosom outlining...everything.

This in itself was expected. What was unexpected was that I felt not one hint of embarrassment or self -consciousness that I definitely would have experienced if I was with anyone else.

I never in all my centuries of cold existence had given much thought to my outward appearance, never really focused on whether I was beautiful or not. All my focus had been on the sharpening and honing of my psychic power, my one asset that had always been nurtured in the Volturi.

Yet standing here in the dense, wet Forks foliage facing _him_, suddenly I wanted to be beautiful, to look beautiful.

I wanted his eyes on me, I wanted him to find me beautiful. I knew he wanted me, I had experienced the evidence of that, could see the evidence right before me, so why wouldn't he_ look _at me now.

I whispered, "Seth..."

He closed his eyes briefly, taking a deep breath before slowly opening them and looking at me. The stark cheekbones of his face stood out harshly, beautifully, as his expression had become so somber. But I wanted to see the carefree, cheerful Seth I had come to know, not this suddenly brooding man before me.

I placed my hand on his face, cradling the side of his cheek and the way he swiftly placed his hand over mine made me smile with more than a hint of triumph. Normally he sustained that intense direct eye contact between us but now I was the one intently holding his gaze. With just one ethereal glide of my feet, I pressed my chest against his. He gasped loudly yet disappointingly his hand remained over mine where I cradled the side of his face and his other hand he placed behind his back.

His gesture made me feel to laugh and cry, if I could indeed cry, at the same time. Laugh because he obviously wanted to touch me yet held himself back, most likely because he adhered to some gentlemanly form of ethics.

I could cry with frustration because after all this time now that I was undeniably and irresistibly drawn to someone after not feeling any kind of attraction for anyone, the object of my affections happened to be a gentleman. Yet it was this same sweet, kind way about him that made me crave being with him. Just the fact that he didn't want to touch me because he was hesitant to offend me, made me want to boldly show him how much I wanted him.

The rain continued to pour steadily increasing from showers to almost solid sheets of water. We both were drenched in the hazy downpour but of course this neither obstructed our view of each other nor clouded our uncannily vivid sight.

I trailed my fingers down his wet stomach now, caressingly, lingeringly. I was looking at him all the while, letting him know silently that I wanted more. So much more. His eyes still held that disturbingly serious look and I knew by just his expression, though not his body, that he would stop me. But I still felt this infuriating knot of hurt as his warm hand clamped down over mine.

I stilled my fingers, questioning him silently. He seemed to see the question in my eyes. He whispered just above my ear sounding as if he were in actual pain.

"What do you want, Jane, tell me what do you want me to do? You're all over me and I can't _think_ about the right thing to do. I just don't want you to regret anything."

I was instantly crestfallen, though I was careful to keep my features neutral. I wanted him to tell me that he wanted me. That he loved touching me...and kissing me. That his response to me wasn't merely because of some mystical tradition of his kind but that he really wanted to be with me. I had to know how he felt about this, I would not ponder about it even a second more. But at the last second, my question flipped the switch. I just couldn't reveal my desire to find out how he really felt about me so blatantly. I wouldn't let myself appear that vulnerable, even to him.

"You don't want me to...touch you?"

His brows smoothed where he'd been frowning in deep thought and he looked at me tenderly now, "I love it when you touch me. And there's nothing more...gratifying to me that you've allowed me to touch you. But kissing is the furthest we'll go."

"Why?!" I instantly pressed my lips together becoming mortified at my blatant protest. He was literally making me lose control...

He continued to whisper in my ear even though I could more than easily hear him from a relative distance. But I liked the feel of his lips moving against my ear. At this point, I had to acknowledge to myself that there was nothing about him I didn't like...

"Because Jane if I do make love to you I'd never be able to let you leave me."

I smiled dreamily at the way he said that. I had been around enough humans of this modern age to know that people just didn't really say the words 'make love' anymore, preferring more blunt phrases. He was so damned sweet, he made it really hard for me to ever disregard him as I more or less did with almost every person in my life.

However the second part of his statement effectively sliced through the sensuous fog I seemed to be enveloped in. Won't be able to let me leave? He couldn't prevent that...even if I could stay...No, I couldn't stay here. Not with Aro, not with Alec, not with the entire Volturi guard soon to arrive practically any day now.

Just the thought of my master and my brother descending here soon, made me pull away from him abruptly. My hands of their own accord rose to grasp my head, unconsciously yanking out the dampened strands from its knot as I contemplated facing Aro. With just one grasp of my hand, he would see how I had failed him. He would see...everything.

"Jane? What are you thinking about?" Seth asked, his eyes fixated on my face. When I stared blankly back at him, he started to move towards me, holding his hand out. But I continued to back away from him contemplating that every private moment we had shared would then belong to Aro. How could I have let myself go this far?

Suddenly Seth stopped in his tracks and I stopped as well as I noticed the abject consternation in his eyes. He said hoarsely, his voice resonating with defeat, "We're going to have company."

My eyes widened at his words. What felt like a hard, cold fist pummeled my stomach. Not a literal fist but one of cold apprehension. I never thought I would be so aggrieved, so apprehensive when my comrades finally arrived. I could only stand there facing him in silent, shocked stillness. Yet my mind screamed.

_No, not yet, not already. They couldn't have arrived already!_


	18. Chapter 18

**Author's Note: Sigh, I really wish they'd create another sequel with Seth as a major character...For the reviewer who asked if the imprintee could get pregnant, personally I think that direction of plot has simply been overdone, though I do love a good pregnancy plot...**

**Dislaimer: Characters belong to Stephenie Meyer**

**Chapter 18**

_**Seth**_

_Damn it Leah, what are you doing in Forks?_ Really my sister had an awesome sense of timing. I really didn't need her interference right now. I could sense her coming close apparently in her wolf form. Well it hadn't taken her long to re-acclimate herself.

Then I glanced at Jane noting her shocked appearance and wide eyes. She looked scared to death. I immediately went to her, grasping her shoulders reassuringly.

"It's ok...it's just...Leah." It was kind of strange. Besides our first encounter, no Cullen or any of us had ever elicited such an acute fear in her, it was almost as if she was expecting someone else. I had no more time to find out if my theory was correct though because right then Leah skidded into the thick copse of trees bordering the small clearing where we stood. We couldn't see her behind the heavy greenery but we could surely hear her furious growls.

As a precaution on any rash action Lee might take, I stepped in front of Jane, reaching my arm behind me to keep her close to me as the rain continued to fall relentlessly.

Leah's growls trailed off slowly. Then she emerged to face us, not even fazed by the inclement weather as she stalked closer sloshing mud carelessly with her bare feet. She'd phased back to her human form, wearing a tee and shorts just like the old days before we'd moved to New York. I was glad to see her back but sorry to see the blatant rancor on her face as she tried to look behind me where Jane stood almost hidden behind my tall frame.

Jane questioned, "Leah?"

"My sister." I responded softly to her query.

"Oh..."

I called casually to her now hoping against hope to dissipate her apparent hostility, "Hey Lee, when did you arrive back?"

She glanced at me now, temporarily ceasing her efforts to get a glimpse of Jane. Worry fleetingly clouded her face before she snarled angrily, "Just when were you going to tell me what happened, Seth?!" She practically shouted at me, her voice harshly cutting through the steady beat of the rain pounding against the forest floor.

I rubbed the side of my head, glancing down a bit nervously as I mumbled, "Uh, I was going to call you..."

"Yeah? When? From your deathbed after she's probably squeezed the life out of you!"

"Leah. Everything's cool." I said as calmly as possible.

"Seth I was so worried! After mom told me, I got on the quickest plane here...I had to make sure you're ok."

"You didn't have to...I mean you shouldn't have inconvenienced yourself like this...I'm good."

Then I added worriedly,"Wait, mom knows?"

Leah glared exasperatingly at me. "After being eloquently updated by Paul of all people, I'd say she was well informed."

I groaned with annoyance. Jane peeked from behind me then and Leah's death glare immediately zeroed in on her, her mouth twisting up as she cringed her nose.

"Ugh how do you stand it Seth...I almost forgot about that reek."

"Leah!" I admonished fiercely.

Jane moved out from behind me smoothly and I started terribly, clasping her arm as she faced my sister.

"Jane..." I said cautiously.

She turned to me, placing her small hand on my shoulder and staring directly into my eyes. When she looked at me like that God help me, everything else just didn't matter, no matter what might be going on. She gave me a small smile, her clear, bell-like voice resonating with sincerity.

"It's fine, Seth. I won't hurt her."

Leah scoffed loudly, clenching her fists and gritting her teeth.

To our simultaneous shock Jane walked to her, holding out her hand.

"I'm Jane Volturi, it is a pleasure to meet you."

Leah's mouth was slightly ajar with disbelief but she pursed her lips and regarded Jane with outright revulsion deliberately folding her arms and ignoring Jane's extended one.

I sighed loudly, palming my face resignedly. This wasn't going to be pretty if I didn't do something. I went up to Jane now, gently placing my hands on her shoulders. She slowly lowered her hand to her side, her smile faltering slightly.

"I would presume you share the other wolves' animosity towards the Volturi given our meeting not so long ago. I understand."

"Really? What I _don't_ understand is why you've got to use my brother to satisfy your vile hunger. If you had any sort of conscience, you'd consider the potential damage you could do to him."

"Leah don't go there." I said sharply as Jane lowered her eyes.

She turned on me now her eyes flashing indignantly as she jabbed her finger furiously at me.

"Oh no Seth, I will go there, even further. Because someone needs to get it through your thick skull that you're essentially playing with your life by associating with this Volturi. When her league of leeches come here after her, tell me, Seth, what are you going to do?!"

"I'm not discussing this with you until you calm down. We can talk whenever you feel like being rational." I said calmly.

"We'll be at the Cullens." I added, starting to move away and turning to Jane as I did so.

I extended my hand to her, gesturing that we were heading back. Jane quickly glanced at Leah, murmuring under her breath, "I'm sorry you...feel this way."

She placed her dainty hand in mine and as Leah stared daggers at us, together we ran back through the driving rain, beating a wet, muddy trail back to the Cullens.

* * *

"Mom, I'm fine." I said patiently for about the hundredth time. I stood just inside Jane's room, leaning against the door as I switched my phone to my other ear, wincing slightly at my mom's shrill voice on the other end.

Jane stood in front the large window opposite me, staring intently at me all the while. There was no doubt she could hear every word of my mother's panicked berating.

I glanced at her and our eyes met but I forced myself to look away quickly, really trying to concentrate on hearing what mom was saying.

"Seth I want...no I need you to come stay with us here. I just...I can't bear anything happening to you. Not like your father! Seth please..."

Mom started to sob softly then and I closed my eyes slowly with remembered sorrow. Remembering my dad's premature death and the true cause. Almost seven years ago, when life had been normal before I'd even phased or been aware of vampires, Dad suffered a major heart attack while on the trail of 'bears' in the forest. Of course, we'd learned that a rogue vampire, not a bear, had frightened him, causing him to suffer that heart attack.

"Mom this is...different. Trust me when I say this is a totally different situation." I said gently, opening my eyes.

"She won't hurt me." I stared at her now as I said this and she returned my gaze unflinchingly. The rain had eased up and now the sky was suffused with golden light once again. The rays made a shining halo of her loose, light hair as she stood with her back to the window. She looked like an angel, a still marble angel with unblinking, glowing eyes.

"...Seth are you there?"

I blinked once. Twice in quick succession.

"Uh..yeah mom I'm here."

"I said to be careful."

"Sure."

She sniffed a bit over the phone, her voice still sounding teary.

" Come see me as soon as possible, alright?"

"Will do."

"I love you, honey."

"Love you Mom. Bye."

I softly clicked the phone shut. Jane moved again, sighing softly and lowering her eyes. I realized she always hid her eyes whenever something bothered her. She spoke before I could find out what it was.

"I'm making things difficult for you and your...family."

I loped toward her, hugging her impulsively. Drawing back a little, I peered down at her. She allowed me to lift her face when I placed my fingers on her delicate chin. I waited until she looked at me before saying softly but firmly.

"No. You're not. They'll...come around."

"You probably wished I had never come here."

"Everyone else probably wish that. But I _don't_."

Slowly she raised her hands to my face, pulling my head down to hers and reaching up on tiptoes to plant her smooth, cool lips on mine. We kissed softly, sweetly for a few moments but all too quickly I forgot where we were. And so did she.

Until my bare back was slammed roughly against the wall with a cracking sound that startled us apart. She'd pushed me backward towards the wall with her body while we had been...preoccupied... which now resulted in a long vertical crevice in the wall where the strength of her body had pushed mine against it.

I couldn't help wincing from the pain in my back. I'd forgotten how much stronger she was than me.

"Ouchh.."

She gasped, her hand covering her mouth as she whispered, "Seth, I'm sorry..."

"I'll be fine just give me a minute. Nothing a little ice won't fix." I said quickly.

There were distinct howls of raucous laughter coming from downstairs. I recognized both Jacob and Emmett's loud guffaws.

I didn't acknowledge it and neither did she.

She gingerly placed her hand against my back now, her fingers fluttering against my bruised skin lightly. I heaved out a long sigh. That felt...amazing.

"This is just...wrong." Her lyrical voice sounded incongruous mouthing that phrase.

I laughed quietly then I realized she was completely serious. I looked down at her willing her to raise her eyes and look at me. Almost reluctantly she glanced up at me before lowering her face again, her soothing fingers still moving tirelessly over my now healed back.

"Look at me, Jane."

She shook her head but gradually raised her eyes to mine. I said slowly, enunciating each and every word intensely.

"We. Are. Not. Wrong."

"There's no 'we' Seth. There's you and your ...family and pack and then there's me. And the Volturi. Soon I'll be...leaving. And you have to go on with your life as if I'd never infiltrated it ..."

I didn't bother to disagree with her. Not here. When we were alone, when it was just us and the heated, undeniable connection between us, then I'd show her how wrong she was.

We'd have our time and place.

For now I said lightly, "No talk of leaving until you come to my birthday celebration."

"Your birthday?"

"Yeah we're having a small celebration down at the rez, the reservation, on Friday." Just two days away.

"Seth, I won't be welcome there."

"Of course you'll be. As my im..." I stopped myself from saying 'imprint' when she glanced at me sharply.

"…. well as my date."

"Your...date?" She stared quizzically at me now. I smiled impulsively, shaking my head a little as I considered how really out of it she was. This ancient little blond beauty. As if she'd practically been sleeping for immeasurable time and now was thrust bluntly into the modern world, unfamiliar with its customs and jargon. In a sense, it was as if she had been sleeping, shut away in Volterra only coming out to do...stuff. I morbidly wondered specifically what her Volterra missions entailed but her endearing perplexity was a much more palatable subject to delve into.

"Yes, my date." I leered playfully at her, gripping her waist as I pulled her against me. "That would be the girl who I spend time with doing things like... getting to know her better, going for romantic strolls," I whispered, "kissing."

I kissed her tenderly just on the tip of her nose. She giggled.

It was like listening to a soft, tinkling, magical lullaby. I grinned down at her, stroking my fingers through the length of her voluminous hair.

"So how old will you be?"

I said a tad proudly, "I'll be nineteen. Nineteen years old."

Then I wondered something. And I suddenly had to know. Not that it really mattered but I was intensely curious.

"How old are you?"

She smiled slightly, coyly lowering her eyes then glimpsing up at me through her pale lashes.

"Too old for you."

"C'mon Jane, spill!"

She sighed glancing away from me now. She became somber, her eyes becoming distant.

"I was seventeen. When I was changed."

"Forever seventeen." I whispered.

I needed her to come back to me. I needed to see those daunting shadows cleared away from her face as she grew unnaturally still in my arms.

Desperately I forced myself to keep calm. "You're just a baby then." I said breezily.

" No, never a baby. In my time seventeen was a fully grown adult and we were never treated as children, not like now where humans smother their children well past the age of adulthood, such a suffocatingly insufferable habit!"

The menace in her eyes chilled me as not even her icy skin could. I'd never seen such coldness, such remote detachment in anyone before. I couldn't even imagine what she went through all those years ago to cultivate such inhuman traits. That she had to endure even the smallest amount of suffering stirred in me rare feelings of rage. And helplessness.

Yet underneath her icy exterior, I'd seen peeks of vulnerability and warmth. Peeks of the girl that by all rights she really was. Before circumstances and time had robbed her of her true essence. She was like a jaded, broken doll and I wanted to be the magic glue that would restore her.

She loved being physically close to me at least and I'd start with that. I hugged her tentatively before speaking softly, soothingly, "It's ok Jane...it's fine."

"Don't say that to me, Seth. And I'm not going to any silly birthday nonsense." She grumbled into my chest. I smiled as I felt her slender arms enclosing my tall, large frame to her short, dainty one.

What a...couple we made. I'd keep that thought to myself for now though.

"Yes you will come."

"No I won't."

"Then...I won't kiss you anymore."

She clasped the previously tender spot where my back had hit the wall, whispering with a hint of a growl in her bell-like voice. "I can always _make_ you kiss me."

So sexy. The way her voice could sound so lilting and throaty all at the same time. She looked up at me and I could only feel sheer joy at the teasing expression on her expressive face. Much, much better that her remote mood of just moments ago.

"You'll never have to 'make' me." I said resolutely.

She smiled. This small little smirk. Hugely sexy.

"I know." She quipped lightly. Then she furrowed her delicate brows.

"What?" I whispered down at her as we stood there holding each other.

"What happened to your father?"

I took a deep breath. "He died of a heart attack seven years ago." I paused not really wanting to say what had been the cause. She already felt so out of place here and I didn't want her to feel any more bad than she already felt. If only every one else could see that she was changing...that she wasn't the same cold vampire who'd shown up in Forks weeks ago.

"You must have been..." She began softly then bit her lip."It must have been horrible for you."

"It wasn't the best of times for us, my mom and sister and the reservation." I replied in a gentle tone.

"But the way your mother said...on the phone. She was worried that you'd get hurt like your father did?"

She'd picked up on that...I sighed. "Well, he got a heart attack because a...rogue vampire scared him. He was searching a trail with the local police, and secretly covering our tracks since we couldn't have the town becoming aware of us when the vampire approached him..."

She simply stared at me for a few moments. Then she lowered her gaze from my eyes.

"How can you even tolerate me near you?" She whispered.

"Jane, what happened was one of the most tragic things of my life but it has no impact on the way I...feel about you." I said painstakingly, grasping her shoulders gently.

She glanced at me, her eyes unbearably sad and then pulled me against her where I all too quickly engulfed her in my arms.

There was a brief knock on the door. Carlisle stood there, a somewhat grave expression on his face. With a discreet nod of his head, he gestured for me to follow him outside. I nodded then looking back down at her, I said, "I'll be back as soon as I can."

I made to move but I couldn't.

Not one inch.

She was still hugging me.

"Uh...Jane?"

She smiled again, giggling a little impishly before relaxing her arms around me. I grinned back at her, glad that she'd lightened up again. Slowly I backed away forcing myself to drag my feet in the direction of the door.

* * *

I stood a few miles out into the forest with Carlisle, Edward and Jake. Obviously they'd chosen this spot so that they could talk beyond Jane's hearing.

"We can't ever let our guard down around her Seth." Edward said to me now.

I sighed nodding my head resignedly. Carlisle said without any preamble, "I discovered something a bit unsettling in your blood work."

I'd caved to Carlisle's insistence that he extract a sample of my blood to check what effects the vampiric venom had on it, if any. Edward glanced at me gravely and Jake's curiosity mimicked my own unspoken one. "Like what?"

"It seems that the venom has affected your dna more that I thought it would. Normally your wolf dna is comprised of twenty four chromosomal pairs, one more pair than a normal human's. As vampires our dna count is twenty five."

Carlisle paused, his eyes contemplative as he continued, "Your dna count is twenty five Seth. Just like us."

He paused shaking his head wonderingly. "It seems as if the venom has irrefutably altered your dna. And very quickly at that. The alteration is irreparable. Though it seems that no physical changes have manifested. Yet."

"What does this mean?" I asked.

Carlisle said hesitantly, his voice resonating with befuddlement, "I can't say exactly at this point. Normally your wolf anatomy possesses antibodies to burn out the venom from your system...antibodies that could burn out only a _small_ amount. But obviously, a large amount is in your system and that would normally poison you...could even kill you. Instead the venom infused with your dna, to create a...mutation if you will. If you were fully human, you would have naturally or unnaturally however you look at it, been changed into a full vampire by now. But the venom has not impacted you with any form of external manifestation, only compromising your chromosomal count. That doesn't mean there won't be any physical effects, it may just be that any changes resulting from this are taking longer than the average human transformation. "

Jake groaned dramatically, "So he's going to become some kind of mutant now for goodness sake?"

I said earnestly, "So seeing as how it's already converted my chromosomal status more to your level, and it hasn't really affected me physically, she can still feed from me without any further adverse effects, right?"

Carlisle said gravely, "Seth this could more than possibly have far reaching consequences. I would limit excessive contact with her venom, it would be the wisest thing to do until we can further determine the effect of this irreversible change to your dna."

"She needs me. And I can't...I can't _not_ help her. Besides I've already been affected."

Edward shook his head, "Encourage her to seek alternative sources, Seth. You need to consider this fully and carefully. You're not helping her and certainly not yourself to disregard such a thing."

I turned my face away a bit, feeling the heat engulf my face as I fleetingly wondered how much Edward had seen of our private interaction.

"She's accustomed to human blood. The only way to ensure she doesn't relapse is by my continually being there for her. I can't... I won't refuse her."

Jake sighed loudly, "Oh man. Seth c'mon think about Sue...about Leah. If something critical were to happen to you, they'd be devastated. They need you, too. And they've got your best interest at heart."

I heard the unspoken censure in his voice, knew they were all thinking that my family truly needed me and loved me unlike Jane. And in all probability they were right. But that still couldn't stop me from being there for her in every way that she needed me to be. No matter how dangerous anyone thought her needs might be. It was what I lived for now, what was embedded resolutely in me, to keep her happy regardless of the circumstances or the outcome. And nothing and no one could prevent me from feeling this way. It was how I'd feel about her for the rest of my life however long it may be.

"We've been sending queries out to our friends to visit with us so we could at least have some defensive measures in place but no one has responded." Edward said frowning in consternation.

"We'll have to seek them out ourselves, we can't merely wait blindly for Aro and the others to arrive here." Carlisle added.

"But Alice..."

Edward interrupted me, "Alice's visions are subject to changes that we simply can't depend on. The risk is too great. We can't depend on that outcome. And if we don't get help soon..."

He trailed off shaking his head.

I felt immensely guilty that I was putting them through this. To have to face something like this again after such a close call in their previous confrontation with the Volturi seemed like too much. Even for vampires who could live for centuries.

"Seth, this isn't your fault." Edward said emphatically.

Yeah I hadn't had a choice in this but despite the danger ever lurking on the horizon, I could not even imagine any other as my imprint.

"Maybe we...Jane and I could just go away from here. You know so the Volturi will follow us and leave you guys in peace."

"It won't work that way Seth. They would in all likelihood come here first. Alice doesn't have to tell us for us to know that. And we'd never allow you to face such power on your own even if Jane should assist you." Carlisle said calmly.

The hairs on the back of my arms rose as I distinctly even from miles away, heard a piercing shriek that I instinctively knew belonged to Jane.

I immediately veered off, shredding my clothes to pieces before her scream tapered off as I phased and sprinted in a dead run towards that chilling sound.

* * *

**A.N.: Harry's death in this fic is based on the movie when he died of a heart attack after his confrontation with Victoria, not on the book version**


	19. Chapter 19

**Author's note: This is a short chapter just to ease the suspense a little ; ) Thank you for all the wonderful reviews and ratings!**

**Disclaimer: Don't own twilight**

**Chapter 19**

_**Jane **_

I stared in the large gilt framed mirror with horror, my mouth making a perfect circle of mute shock as I noticed the still active transformation before me. And it could only get worse. How come I'd never noticed this before now?

Bella, Alice and Rosalie had darted back against the wall after my first enraged scream, with Bella focusing on me in silent concentration as they warily assessed me. Low furious hisses unconsciously bubbled from my throat as I glanced at the three female Cullens behind me.

It was one thing to reluctantly succumb to their persistence, particularly Alice's, that I at least try on some garments they thought would suit me but to discover that I was developing a deeper, more permanent similarity with them was too much.

I looked at the reflection of the tell tale mirror feeling my rage build up again. My eyes were no longer a vivid crimson but were now ringed by a very light golden brown colour and if I stared hard and carefully enough, I could actually see the miniscule changes taking place with the red pigmentation being dissolved by this encroaching, infuriating golden tint.

I couldn't comprehend what was happening to me. It seemed as if I was becoming someone other than who I was, becoming like the very Cullens whom I still thoroughly despised and considered to be my enemies.

By my precise calculations, Aro, Alec and the others should have been here since yesterday, coming to rightfully claim me back and to tear their world apart. Though it would have been much preferable to me if we could just leave this place and return to Volterra without any of the reviled Cullens at all. I had to admit that they should be entitled to live as they please without dividing their cozy coven.

Being unceremoniously kept here against my will had given me a fresh perspective from a prisoner's point of view, I guess. And they were Seth's friends, after all and no matter how much I told myself I didn't care about that fact, it still made me upset to think of Seth being devastated after the Volturi executed their plans.

Seth what am I going to do with you? The tenseness in my face relaxed a bit and I stopped clenching my teeth as I sighed.

And what are you doing to me?

My gaze flickered down to the long, draping garment that I reluctantly wore. I had selected this particular garment from the three choices Alice had foisted upon me simply because it was the most...discreet, covering me more than the other options. Alice with annoying exuberance had applauded my choice, describing it as 'fresh and summery', and saying the colour went with my pale golden looks.

I _did_ like how the soft, silky fabric felt and the way the unfamiliar hue looked against my skin.

I'd been literally counting the seconds and minutes since he'd left, when the three of them had bluntly barged into the room. Bella had closed the door quietly after quickly murmuring to her daughter who had been standing outside apparently pleading with her mother to come in as well. The tall, blonde one Rosalie was carrying a large, intricately designed, framed mirror effortlessly in her manicured hands, and Alice had what appeared to be three garment bags on her arm. She had fearlessly approached me, her chirping, bird like voice speaking so quickly that no human would have ever understood her babble.

"Quick! We've got to move fast. Choose one of these little ensembles I've put together. There's this one..." Swiftly she slid a black, long sleeved shirt from one of the bags, saying with a cheeky smile, "You can't ever go wrong with the little black dress."

_That _was a dress?

Immediately she had revealed another garment, this one a fawn coloured trousers with a leopard spotted, _sheer_ shirt. She took a quick peek at the look on my face then she immediately tossed it aside on the bed, sliding the last garment out, a long, flowing vivid green dress.

"Ok Jane, the little black dress or this one?" She said determinedly.

She truly looked as if she might actually attack me if I didn't agree to choose one of the outrageous pieces of fabric dangling from her hands. This was unbelievably absurd.

"The least you can do is just try it! She snapped exasperatedly at me, "Don't you want to look special for your date night with Seth?"

Was there nothing that ever escaped their obviously constant eavesdropping? I glanced away a bit uncomfortably, muttering, "I don't care."

Which was simply not the truth. I was immensely curious about seeing where he'd lived all his life. Contrary to what I had told him, I did want to go.

Bella had looked at me in this conspiratorial way.

"She does this to all of us on an almost daily basis." There was a hint of sympathy in her voice. I presumed she wasn't that thrilled either to be the regular victim of Alice's flamboyantly varied tastes. I couldn't blame her for that.

"The sooner you try on something, _anything_, the faster she'll leave you alone." Bella had continued, her words saturated with good-natured humor.

Rosalie rolled her eyes skyward. "You're the only one who doesn't love getting made over all the time."

She nodded her sleek head toward me. "At least she has an excuse, seeing as she's never really lived among humans." She added, not unkindly. It irked me though, the casual way she dismissed me.

It seemed there was nothing I could do but to don one of these...dresses so they could all get the hell out and leave me alone.

"Fine." I snapped. "I'll try the green one."

Alice squealed with delight as I grabbed the offending garment.

I decided just to do this as swiftly as possible so that Seth wouldn't have to witness my abject awkwardness. I'd thought it was ironic how earlier in the rain, I had been unashamed in my wet, revealing t-shirt but now I would feel really embarassed for him to see me dressed up in one of these things.

They'd all gasped as I emerged self consciously from the walk in closet, my eyes fixated on the hem of the flowing dress which covered the tips of my toes.

"You look stunning, Jane." Alice enthused clasping her hands excitedly and bouncing up and down on her heels.

Rosalie looked me over with reluctant admiration in her assessing gaze and Bella smiled hesitantly at me.

"You look really nice with this colour." She said quietly. I glanced at her quickly in surprise at her appraisal.

"I think the mini black one would have been more ideal though." Rosalie said somewhat haughtily.

Bella raised her eyes to the ceiling this time, muttering "You'd always choose the short, tight and clingy, Rosalie."

"It takes a certain kind of self assurance to pull it off." She sniffed in response.

Alice gestured toward the mirror propped up against the wall which strategically hid the earlier damage that Seth and I had inflicted. I bit my lip in agitation.

"Have a look." Alice prompted.

I could hardly contemplate her bubbly excitement, thinking if she ever got bored with this constant frivolity. I could never tolerate this on a daily basis. I glanced at the mirror non-commitedly then my eyes widened a bit as I now stared in fascination at my transformation.

I couldn't tear my eyes away from the vision before me. The length of the dress skimmed over my slender form, the long silhouette adding the appearance of more height to my tiny five feet. The thin straps accentuated the intricate structure of my collar bone and just below that, the vee shaped neckline revealed the tops of my breasts, the soft material molding my flat stomach and hugging my hips then flowing down to skim the floor. I lifted my bare slim arms and experimentally smoothed the dress against my thighs.

"Turn around."

I automatically did as she bid me, gasping as I glimpsed behind the dress. It had a low, draping bodice in the back so that one could see the defined line running down the center of my bare slender back. I quickly turned around to face front again, letting out a slow, deep breath.

It was then I saw my eyes. The changing colour morphing from the red hue that I'd had for centuries to that light golden colour. The instant anger I felt at such a change had released itself in the form of a shrill scream of undiluted rage.

I could hardly believe it! That his blood had forged such a startling change in me.

"I definitely _didn't _see this reaction." Alice hissed a bit.

"Jane?" Bella queried cautiously while Rosalie stared at me as if she didn't know what to make of my reaction.

"My...eyes!" I whispered frantically. "They're changing."

Bella slowly approached, coming to stand beside me and peering closely at my eyes.

"Wow..." That was all she said as she frowned slightly.

"Really, this is about your eyes? I thought you didn't like the dress!" Alice snapped impatiently.

Bella and I turned at the same time to look at her. I stalked away from the mirror, turning my back on the lot of them and dazedly stared out the window.

"Just leave. Please. Just leave me alone." I wrapped my bare arms about myself not turning around as they slowly filed out the room.

Before they'd finished descending the stairs, I scented him. He was close. In his wolf form. I suddenly didn't want to face him now, didn't want to confront the sole cause of my unwanted change.

This was becoming unbearable. I was beginning to feel that my entire existence as I'd always known it was dissolving before me. What made it even more unsettling was that I found I didn't even miss my ingrained routines and habits in Volterra. And it was those very things I had always defined myself by. My rigid perspective of my existence was slipping through my fingers dramatically leading me to question my whole sense of self. This was the longest I had gone without using my power. I could not have imagined that I would cope this long without it and I fervently wished I could use it right now if only as an outlet for my confusion and anger.

And my dear Alec. What would he think of all this, my twin who I had been apart from in what seemed like forever. He was the only one I truly missed.

If I'd ever envisioned this outcome while I'd been going about my life in Volterra, I would have irrevocably considered this a nightmare. But now I was forced to admit to myself that Volterra now seemed like the nightmare.

Being here was...it wasn't so bad.

I heard them down there updating him about my reaction. Must he know_ everything_? Annoyance rippled through me as I contemplated how for the most part, he'd always been around me since he had chased me through the forest. Not that I had protested his presence too much.

But now I just wanted to be alone in my misery. He'd just distract me and I really didn't need that right now. I needed to be able to think clearly. Besides I was always accustomed to having my own space. I tugged at my hair in frustration as again my current circumstances threatened to overwhelm my fragile control. I forced myself to suppress my urge to just run out of here knowing it would do no good.

If there was even a minor possibility that I could escape the Cullens in addition to the too large pack of wolves, I would not hesitate to leave immediately. I would not have paused for even a second to think about it, to think on what I was leaving behind. I would not think about about the taste of his blood and how sated he made me feel. Or his kind, warm chocolate eyes, his beautiful body or his increasingly addictive kisses. I certainly wouldn't have stopped to think about the way he made me feel. How he made me feel like forgetting all my responsibilities to my coven and just being light-hearted and young, and carefree. Like he was.

I couldn't be like that. Ever. I couldn't ever forget who and what I was.

Something Carlisle was saying downstairs caught my attention now.

"It's not such a surprise that her eyes are becoming golden now. After all Seth is a wolf, his blood having more in common with a wolf than a human's. What's a bit disturbing is the speed with which her eyes have changed, normally it takes months of a 'vegetarian' diet to see the difference, especially in a vampire that's been drinking human blood for so long."

"I'm going up there."

I sighed as Seth spoke.

"I would give her a little space for now, Seth. I think she needs some time to adjust."

I couldn't help feeling grateful for Bella's suggestion. But even though I definitely wanted to be alone with my thoughts right now, a part of me was still hoping he'd come through the door.

But he didn't.

I heard the other one Jacob telling him how worried his mom was and Seth took a deep breath. I was so attuned to listening to him, I heard even the rhythm of his breathing. Then I heard nothing at all.

He'd left.

And I was left alone to continue my introspection in solitude. Which now did not appeal to me in the least. I slowly sank down on my knees before the floor length ornate window, placing my hand on the glass and staring forlornly out at the dimmed vibrancy of the forest in the approaching dusk.


	20. Chapter 20

**Author's Note: ****Please leave me some more love : )**

**Disclaimer: I don't own twilight**

**Chapter 20**

_**Seth**_

Leah was waiting for me when I got back to the reservation. I gave her a silent glance before dashing for the shower.

I took my sweet time in there wishing I could stay in the shower all day just to avoid any more lectures about how bad Jane was for me.

I came out to the kitchen now where she sat at the dining table watching me as I rummaged in the fridge and moved about preparing a quick sandwich.

She broke the tense silence.

"This letter came for you. I think it would interest you."

She slapped the letter down in the center of the table. I glanced at it, taking a huge bite of my sandwich before picking it up. I chewed quickly, swallowing before saying dryly, "It's open."

Leah shrugged as if she thought nothing untoward of opening my letter before I read it. Shaking my head, I quickly took out the contents, my eyes widening briefly as I saw the information inside.

It was an acceptance letter from Harvard.

"Congratulations, brother." Leah said calmly. Then she smiled enthusiastically.

"Frankly, I'm not surprised. I knew you could do it with your discipline." She said.

I laughed once with gratification. "Yeah, thanks."

Then I sobered as I contemplated my present situation. I didn't think it would be resolved anytime soon.

"This just serves as a reminder of the life you seem to have no regard for. You've got a bright future, Seth." Leah said firmly. Don't spoil it." She added gently.

"Nothing's getting spoiled, Lee. Everything will work out."

She sighed heavily.

"I'm quitting my summer internship and possibly putting my September semester on hold until this is over. And you're safe."

I protested immediately. "That's not necessary, Lee. You can't disrupt your life because mine is a bit...confusing right now. I won't ask that of you."

She stared unseeing out the bay window above the sink, a troubled frown on her face.

"Well I'm staying anyway. I couldn't be so far not knowing how this is going to end."

She turned to look at me now, her voice suddenly quiet.

"How on earth is this even possible, Seth?"

Of course I knew she was referring to my unusual imprinting. I could always discuss almost anything with Leah but this was hard to get into.

"The why isn't important, what's important is that this is how it's happened and I wouldn't change anything."

Her brows shot up incredulously.

"You're just saying that because she can't hurt you physically for whatever reason. For goodness sake she almost killed you at first, Seth! How can you so easily dismiss that?"

She had been well informed. Thanks, Paul! Or maybe she saw it from Jake's mind. Whatever.

"Maybe when we're phased and you see from my mind how I feel then you might understand just a tiny bit."

I frowned slightly in regret at my somewhat hasty words when she looked away from me with obvious discomfort. Perhaps I had been a bit insensitive knowing how she felt about being the only known female wolf. And the possibility of not ever experiencing imprinting. I knew she still suffered from just being here, not too far from Sam and Emily. And their son.

She sighed heavily then turned her eyes to me, imploring me softly, "Seth come back with me to New York...leave all this mess behind. Come go to college, enjoy yourself, live life without all this... supernatural interference. Remember how much fun it was, all those friends you made? I've been getting calls almost everyday, they all miss you. Come back with me."

I bowed my head a little. I didn't even have to consider this. New York was great, yes I loved being there and I wanted to go to college. But there's nothing I would ever want more than to be with _her_.

College was most likely out of my immediate future. Not until I knew for certain that all this was resolved. And I was prepared to wait however long it took.

She might not know it yet but she belonged to me as much as I belonged to her.

"Lee I can't leave. I might as well be dead if I do."

Leah swore harshly, exasperatedly shoving her hair back and standing now in agitation.

"You'll probably die if you stay! Dammit choose to live, Seth. I just can't stand here watching you throw your life away like this."

"You don't have to watch me 'throw my life away' Leah. In fact you should go back, it'd make me feel better to know that at least you wouldn't have to risk yourself when the Volturi come here."

I added meaningfully, "I'm sure Luke misses you." I referred to her boyfriend in New York.

"I'm not going anywhere Seth." She said firmly, glaring at me.

"Neither am I." I chuckled a little. "Unless Jane's coming with me."

"You're one crazy ass!" She sputtered furiously.

I laughed, walking to my bedroom and throwing on a t shirt.

"I'm going to mom's to get her recipe for chicken lasagne! You coming?" She called out after me.

Leah didn't have a remote interest in cooking. She probably thought I would go right back to the Cullens. And she thought right. But I had to visit mom anyway so I might as well go along with her.

"Sure." I replied.

Lee drove the rental car that I mostly never used. Staring out the window at the whooshing forest, I absently thought that I much preferred running. I had the distinct urge to hop out of the car and sprint to the Cullens. I knew she probably needed a little space as Bella had pointed out but I...missed her already.

"Uh Lee, as soon as you turn that bend, I'll take it right there." I said impulsively. I'll meet you at mom's in a bit."

"Oh no you won't!" Leah turned to look at me.

I sighed heavily leaning back resignedly.

"Alright just keep your eyes on the road." I muttered as she continued to stare at me reproachfully.

We made it in quick time, Charlie answering the door and smiling hugely as he saw us.

"Hey kiddos! Come on in."

We followed him into the living room as he talked. "Your mother and I really missed you Leah. You've gotta update us on all that you've been up to."

"Just work and school Charlie." Leah said.

"Aw come on, you must've been up to some sort of mischief in the big apple." He looked around dramatically then whispered conspiratorially, "You can tell me."

Leah laughed. We both liked Charlie a lot. We were really happy that he and our mom were together, their solid companionship had made the move to New York possible. We'd never have left mom alone in her grief otherwise.

Mom entered the living room now smiling but I saw the reddened rims of her eyes. The last thing I wanted was for her to be stressed out because of me. I went to her and gave her a big hug, murmuring, "Mom, don't worry."

She held onto me tightly, hiding her face in my chest and gulping back her sudden tears. She took a deep breath then looked up at me, whispering, "Seth how are you? Really?"

"Mom I'm fine." I said resoundingly seeking to reassure her.

She nodded quickly hastily wiping her eyes before turning to face Leah and Charlie. They still kept up their light banter but Charlie was glancing at mom with concern.

He addressed me now. "Everything ok son?"

I kept my arm draped around my mom's shoulder comfortingly as she still clung to me.

"Everything's great!" I said emphatically as Leah snorted and rolled her eyes.

He and mom exchanged a look and I wondered what they had told Charlie. He didn't say anything to me though. That's one of the things I really liked about Charlie, he didn't pry unless he absolutely had to.

Then Leah with unnecessary pomp, announced that I had been accepted to Harvard. Mom gasped, grabbing me to hug me again while Charlie hooted.

"Congrats, way to go Seth!" He thumped me on my back and quickly hugged me as well when mom released me.

"This calls for a celebration!" Charlie said going to the kitchen and returning with a bottle of wine. I gamely drank down my glass as they toasted me though I never touched alcohol. Not after personally experiencing the after effects after a wild night with the guys when we'd raided our parents' cache. Good old days before we'd left.

We had dinner then where Leah boisterously conversed with mom and Charlie about New York. She continued to look at me pointedly as she rehashed how my grades had been consistently excellent or how aunt Sherry, mom's sister loved having us there with her. She really intended to drive her point home that I was better off living my life as if I'd never met Jane. I knew she wasn't going to let up anytime soon.

I stood up now and they all looked at me suddenly as I made my excuses. "Mom, Charlie it was great spending some time with you but I've got to go."

"Leaving already?" Charlie asked.

"I made apple pie with ice-cream for dessert."

I grinned at my mom and she smiled back at me hopefully. I shook my head ruefully.

"I've got a couple of things to do..I'll see you guys later."

"Those things wouldn't involve a detour to the Cullens, wouldn't it?" Leah asked abrasively. Charlie looked over at her with a quizzical expression before turning to me. So they hadn't told him everything then?

"Don't make yourself a stranger, Seth."

"Sure, Charlie."

The door buzzed then and Leah let out this huge sigh of relief.

"Mom, Charlie I hope you don't mind I invited Jake and Paul over."

"Of course not."

She bounced up from her seat before mom finished speaking and ran to the door. Paul, Rachel, Jake's sister and Paul's imprint, plus Jake himself with Renesmee in tow all joined us in the kitchen then. Renesmee rushed over to greet Charlie and mom as Paul mockingly punched me on my shoulder.

"Hey, you're still alive?"

I merely stared at him as he chuckled heartily. Rachel came over to me, hugging me quickly.

"Congrats Seth! You must be so excited to begin college."

"Thanks." I muttered now, the beginnings of a scowl forming on my face. Renesmee hugged me as well.

"I am so envious, Seth! I've been begging mom and dad to let me start college already! It wouldn't hurt for Jake to join me either." She glanced over at Jake, smiling knowingly at him. Jake just grinned back foolishly at her before patting me on my shoulder.

"Well done, man. We're all proud of you."

"Thanks." I said before lowering my voice. "How's she doing?"

Paul was now bombarding Charlie with requests for more liquor to properly celebrate my acceptance letter with Rachel laughingly commiserating with Sue and Leah about Paul harassing the police chief.

"She's ...reclusive more than usual. Refuses to allow anyone near her." Jake whispered.

"Mom says she wants to be alone but I think she really wants you to be there with her, Seth." Renesmee added in a low voice.

Then she touched me on the side of my face carefully, using her gift to show me what occurred earlier this evening. I gasped.

She showed me the most beautiful thing. Jane was standing in front of a mirror in a long, fitted green dress, slowly turning about as she looked at herself with this perplexed wonder on her face. As if she couldn't believe how gorgeous she looked...she'd look gorgeous in anything to me but seeing her in my favourite colour was something else. Even seeing it second hand, the fit of the material on her body was stunning. I gently removed Renesmee's hand, swallowing harshly. I couldn't look at her like that not where I was at the moment.

"I peeked through the door for your benefit." Renesmee whispered, giggling quietly as Jake shook his head.

"What are you guys whispering about over there. Charlie interrupted. "Come join us, we're having Sue's apple pie a la mode. With soda." He added pointedly looking at Paul who groaned in defeat.

There was no one who loved being with his family more than me but at this moment I didn't want to be here at all. Jake and Renesmee went over to the table where everyone else sat as I stood there, wanting to _fly_ to _her_.

"C'mon, Seth." Charlie called out to me.

They all looked over at me as I awkwardly remained standing, my body already half turned toward the door. I sighed, forcing myself to remain calm, to stifle my intense urge to go see her. I walked over to the table, taking a seat. I could hold out a few more minutes.

I ate automatically as everyone talked animatedly, laughing and teasing each other. Glancing up I saw Renesmee playfully feed Jake a piece of dessert as she sat in his lap. I looked away where my eyes fell on Paul sharing an intimate glance with Rachel. I pushed away my plate, standing abruptly.

"I'll see you guys later." I muttered before dashing out of there as they all stared after me.

* * *

I found myself standing in the woods surrounding the Cullen residence. Big surprise there. I was in my wolf form, pacing up and down as I stopped to intermittently glance at the well lit house, in particular a certain second story window.

After rushing out, I had immediately run into the woods, this time carefully stripping and securing my clothes and shoes before phasing.

I forced myself to stay in my wolf so I wouldn't impulsively barge in there. Contrary to what Renesmee perceived, I knew Jane did need some space from me so I valiantly tried to give her that.

Hence the reason why I was out here grunting and watching at her window like some stalker creature.

Excluding _hers_, I didn't really want any company either. Not in this frame of mind I found myself in.

I was glad that in my wolf form I was able to hear a million times better as I heard the sound of running water coming from her room. I even heard the rustle of clothes being removed then the splash of water against her smooth skin.

I should leave.

Now.

I should just go for a run or something.

But I continued to stand there relishing my voyeuristic audio capability. As she bathed, the water seemed to intensify her scent, wafting it to me and I growled deeply as I struggled against the instinctive drive to phase and go up there to her.

Her scent was slightly different, a bit deeper, a bit more alluring than it usually was. It was quickly becoming painful to stand here being enticed by her intensified scent and not see her. Not touch her...

I could imagine how wet...and slick... her skin was right now. The image of her in that green dress flit through my mind again and this time I lingered on how her body fit the dress. She was so slender but with an hour glass shape. Her perky breasts had been outlined in the soft looking material with just a hint of the tops peeking out and the rounded shape of her hips beguiled me.

Perfection.

I wanted to trail my fingers down that sexy ridge in the center of her back before I stripped that dress from her. That soft material would rip so easily in my hands...

A continuous growl rumbled from my throat as I fought hard _not_ to phase now. It was sort of strange because I always had supreme control over when I should phase excluding my occasional lapse of forgetting to secure my clothes. It felt as if my _wolf _was battling with _me_ to phase now. Somewhere in the cloudiness of my lust riddled thoughts, it disconcerted me. I'd never had to fight this hard to _stop _my phasing to human. It was as if the wolf was pushing me to claim my mate.

I shook my head gruffly, trying to shake off my inner frenzy. I couldn't phase in this condition and just barge in there like that. Slowly I began to back away as I felt my control becoming more fragile by the second.

Mercifully the sound of water being splashed against her skin stopped but it was replaced by the almost soundless movement of material rubbing repeatedly against her skin now. With a feral growl, I continued to steadily back away, fighting so hard to _not _phase.

But she knew I was here. Her whispered words were my undoing.

"Seth, don't go."


	21. Chapter 21

**Author's note: Heads up, Seth's going to go through a few changes...he may become a bit darker than his normally light, care free ways. What can I say? It's a phase …**

**Disclaimer: Twilight doesn't belong to me**

**Chapter 21**

_**Jane**_

I lost track of time as I sat there unmoving, staring unblinkingly out at the deep forest. I studiously kept my mind blank. Devoid of thoughts of him, of my fellow Volturi, of the meddlesome Cullens and most of all thoughts about my situation.

I was mostly successful. But images of him kept intruding on my induced solitude. So much had happened in so little time.

Eventually I stood up in one fluid movement, wandering aimlessly about the bedroom absently thinking how quaint the furnishings were. I wandered into the adjoining bath. It was a pale pink and cream tiled room with a cream bathtub in the centre and a well stocked vanity basin replete with an oval mirror. Sitting at the edge of the tub I turned on the faucet first feeling the cold water then turning on the heat. It felt pleasant running through my fingers and reminded me of his warmth.

I could almost smell his compelling scent as the heated water continued to trickle between my fingers.

Instinctively I knew he was close by. Knowing that, I spontaneously chose to have a bath now, imagining that he could witness every move I made. Smiling deviously, I stood up then bent over the tub, switching the faucet to full the sunken area with the warm water.

Slowly I slipped the thin straps off my shoulders then grasping the dress I slid it off my body allowing the cloth to slowly drag against my skin. I stepped out of the puddle of material and hooked my fingers inside the top edges of my panties where it lay against my hips and taking my time, I glided the bit of cotton material down my legs, inch by inch.

I was certain he was somewhere nearby, just outside. If I listened carefully enough I could detect low growls emanating from him where ever he stood. He was in his wolf form then. That fact both titillated and disappointed me. I wanted the man not the wolf.

But that didn't deter me. I sank slowly into the filled tub almost gasping at the sensation of the hot water against my skin. I always bathed with cold water never really having the need to be warm so that this was yet another new sensation I could add to the growing list of unfamiliar experiences courtesy Seth.

Loudly I splashed the water on my body fully aware he _could_ hear if he was listening. I could purr with contentment but I wanted this to be between him and me, didn't want anyone else to be aware of our silent interaction. Taking up the loofah, I rubbed it against my breasts, my taut stomach, my slippery legs trying to envision how his hands would feel on me like this. I cupped my breasts observing how they stiffened into rigid peaks and paid particular attention to the hot water pooling against my nether regions. I bit my lip so hard that if I were human, it would have bled furiously.

Abruptly I stood up sloshing water over the edges of the tub. I couldn't do this without some form of vocal outlet and there was simply no privacy for that, not with everyone's vampiric hearing. I frowned in frustration stepping out of the tub and hastily grabbing a towel, moving it against my skin to dab off the excess water.

From beyond the direction of my window, I heard the thump of his huge wolfen paws as he moved. Was he coming? Leaving?

I whispered not sure if he could hear me.

"Seth, don't go."

Two seconds hadn't barely passed before I was fully dressed in my preferred dark shirt and denim. Flinging my hair impatiently over my shoulders, I rushed out into the bedroom going to the window and seeking him out in the dark woods. I couldn't see him from this angle.

Slumping my shoulders in disappointment, I sighed, about to go take up my regular seating station at the foot of the bed when I heard a series of deep growls and snarls.

The sound chilled me as almost nothing ever could.

I had heard Seth make sounds in his wolf form before but the noises he made now were totally foreign to the benign grumbles and growls he customarily emitted. What could have elicited such a reaction from him? He was always calm and relaxed.

I didn't think about what I was doing, I just began moving, out the door, past the empty foyer and outside where the Cullens had already gathered, their eyes fixated on him where he stood at the edge of the trees.

No one tried to stop me as I brushed past them. My feet hardly touched the steps as I moved to stand just outside the house. His huge back was turned to me as he faced another huge wolf aggressively.

Suddenly he turned to me. The expression of his wolf face sent a pang of apprehension right through me. I almost turned and fled when he marched resolutely towards me but I determinedly held my ground, squaring my shoulders and facing him.

He stopped just in front of me, so close that I felt his full prickly fur brushing against me. I gulped a little, briefly closing my eyes then looking up at him as he gazed down at me. The look in his large golden eyes made me shudder briefly. Stark possession glinted back at me from the depths of his wolfen eyes.

He began to lower his huge head toward me and I stopped breathing altogether, wondering what on earth he was going to do to me.

I was completely startled when he_ nuzzled_ me. The gentleness with which he did this did not abate my apprehension whatsoever.

He continued to rub his face all over me, his fur sliding against my chest, my abdomen, even my legs. I unconsciously began pleading with him, fear almost causing my words to sound somewhat distorted.

"Seth please don't. Don't!"

In a flash that was almost too fast even for my vampiric eyes to follow, he darted back away from me before shuddering violently and erupting into a soundless haze leaving the Seth I knew crumpled on the floor.

I gasped, my eyes wide as he lay bare and still there, not moving at all. In a panic I whispered, "Seth!"

I sighed in relief when he opened his eyes, his gaze unnervingly finding me. Weakly he stood up, swaying on his feet towards me. I flashed to him in an instant just in time to grab him as he lost consciousness in my arms.


	22. Chapter 22

**Author's Note: Thank you to everyone who reviewed. Your enthusiasm has given me the encouragement to keep writing more.**

**Disclaimer: Characters belong to Stephenie Meyer**

**Chapter 22**

_**Seth**_

I swiftly trotted just to the line of trees that ringed the Cullens' property, so that I was still hidden in the trees but closer to the house. I was about to phase when I detected another presence behind me. I swivelled about growling furiously.

It was Jake in his wolf form. I still continued to growl a bit, my vision weirdly becoming saturated with this red hazy mist as I felt irrational rage stirring within me.

When Jake approached closer, I lowered my head aggressively and snarled at him harshly. All I could think was that I didn't want him anywhere near my mate. A memory flashed through my mind of him telling me that he and the others were considering killing her.

_Seth are you alright?_

His communication spurred another memory. This time when they'd first attacked her, when her delicate arm had been between his teeth. I snapped at him now as he cautiously stood back. He began countering my paces toward him cautiously.

In the midst of my wolf's rage, I strenuously tried to reach for some semblance of reason, a bit of much needed rationality. But the intensified emotions of my wolf were too virulent, I couldn't surmount the animalistic violence. Always I had been as one with my wolf nature having complete control over any wolf reactions and needs. But I couldn't make sense of what was happening to me now.

All I could feel was this heavy, increasing anger at any wolf who dared come close to me when I was about to go to her. I wanted to attack anyone who so much as attempted to stop me.

_Seth, phase now!_

Jake communicated harshly in the double timbre of his alpha's voice. That would normally mean that I would have no choice but to follow his command but my wolf in this abnormal aggression was able to resist his edict.

As my wolf steadfastly ignored his command, a note of desperation entered his tone.

_You need to control this, Seth. We__ don't kno__w what's happening to you but you need to phase now before this gets worse. You're not yourself._

I shook my head angrily, growling even deeper as he took a step towards me. The only thing preventing me from lunging at him right now was the fact that I was torn between keeping him away from here and going to her.

_You could hurt her in this condition!_

His words fractionally eased the wolf's snarling temper and I came out of my tense crouch where I had been about to lunge at him.

Then her scent hit me hard.

I turned around to face her where she stood just in front of the stairs watching me steadily. The light from the house behind her created a shining outline of her silhouette.

From the moment I looked at her, the inexplicable red haziness of my vision cleared.

I was barely aware of the Cullens standing on top of the stairs behind her, their rigid postures indicative of their preparation to intervene if I couldn't control my wolf. Somewhere behind all my wolf's unprecedented rage, I was filled with befuddlement. Now that I wanted to phase back to my human form, my wolf wilfully retained his wolf form.

Now I stalked to her determinedly. She stepped back a little her eyes widening as I came up to her.

I peered down at her face which was turned up to me, undiluted fear shining from her eyes. I whined a little not wishing her to be afraid of me. Yet I still lowered my huge, furry face to her and instinctively began rubbing my scent glands all over her tense, still figure.

She whimpered a bit, "Seth please don't. Don't!"

The frightened quiver of her voice gave me just enough strength to catapult the change. At the last moment my wolf darted back away from her, phasing uncontrollably and more violently than usual before I collapsed in my human form on the ground.

"Seth!" She whispered my name frantically. I opened my eyes, every bone in my body aching painfully. I swayed to my feet struggling to keep my eyes open to look at her. In the blink of an eye she was before me, catching me in her arms as blackness covered my vision.

* * *

Slowly I opened my eyes looking around at the dimness of the room which did not affect my vision in the least. I was home lying down on my bed.

Leah was speaking softly with Jake in the living room. I could detect Billy's presence as well.

Slowly the heavy drowsiness cleared and I recalled with vivid clarity my unusual aggression. I groaned softly at how I had almost attacked Jake. What the hell had gotten into me? I couldn't make sense of how my wolf temperament could be stronger than my ever present innate control. I had never experienced my wolf being that dominant, had never had to fight to phase or not phase.

Jane's scent still clung to me as if she'd actually been here. But I knew that was not possible. Or was it?

I sat up gingerly and slid off the bed going to the closet to grab a pair of jeans to put on over my boxers. As I unthinkingly grabbed the door of the closet to yank it open, the handle made this splintering sound. The sturdy wood had crumbled underneath my fingers.

What the hell?

Even with the extra physical strength inherent in all shifters in their human form, I shouldn't have been able to do that so easily, if at all.

I opened my hands wonderingly staring at the pieces of wood scattered on my hand. I flexed my hand while the fragments of wood rained down on the floor. I contemplated how different my hand felt. Not just my hand but my entire body felt subtly different.

I grabbed at my bare chest feeling the skin there. Yes there was a noticeable difference. My skin felt even more unnaturally resilient somehow, slightly more firm to the touch. Uncannily I felt...stronger than I normally was even given my more than usual wolf strength. Glancing quickly in the mirror I noted that I looked no different though. Just felt different.

I cautiously opened the damaged closet door now pulling on my clothes quickly before joining my sister, Jake and Billy.

"Jake I'm really sorry. I...don't know what happened."

" Seth there's no easy way to say this but your head's in a mess. It's like your wolf had control of you."

I shoved my hand through my hair, letting out a deep breath.

"I know...I've never experienced anything like that."

"I've never heard of such a thing happening before." Billy spoke up from where he sat in front the television. He looked at me carefully as if he could detect the difference I felt.

"How do you feel now?" Leah asked.

"I don't know...I feel...kind of weird like...like if I could run across the country in a day or something."

They all stared at me quizzically.

"Something must have made you react like that, Seth. It makes no sense for your wolf to aggressively confront Jake without any provocation." Billy said now watching me closely. I ducked my head, feeling the familiar heat suffuse my face as I thought just what was going through my mind before my lapse of rationality.

Jake glanced at me knowingly but he didn't say anything.

"It's her, isn't it? She's making you act this way..." Leah started but Jake tactfully interrupted her.

"We can't pinpoint exactly what's going on. Just as Carlisle said, this is the first time such an imprint has taken place so it's like we're in the dark as to the effects here."

He looked at me before saying tentatively, "Carlisle thinks it would be best if you could avoid phasing until we know what's really going on with you."

Jake's phone buzzed then and he shot up from the sofa answering immediately.

I bleakly wondered if this episode of aggression was a one time thing or if it would keep recurring? If this continued that meant no one would be safe around me. Hence Carlisle's advice that I avoid phasing for a while. Unless...I smiled slowly. Unless Jane and I were together all the time. As my wolf had beheld her, I had gotten a handle on controlling my wolf and my aggressive tendencies had instantly abated.

My smiled vanished when I contemplated that maybe she wouldn't want to be anywhere near me anymore. I recalled the vivid terror in her gaze at my proximity to her in my unexpected fit of fury. She was repulsed by the wolf side of me.

"Dad, I'm heading back. We should probably get going." Jake said now.

"We'll see you guys later. Happy birthday by the way." He added, gripping his father's wheelchair as he started to roll him towards the door. Billy nodded at me, his eyes seeming to see everything I hadn't said. He just had that way about him where you felt he knew things about you even if you tried to hide it.

As they left, Jake's birthday greeting made me frown a bit.

Today was Friday, my birthday? That meant I had been unconscious for more than twenty four hours.

Leah gave me a quick hug extending birthday wishes to me as well.

"Mom was here earlier. She left just a few minutes before you woke up. You should call her...she's really worried about you." She said. Then she screwed up her nose slightly.

"That leech's scent is all over you. It's a good thing I threw her out before she stayed here any longer."

My eyes widened. "She was here? And you did what?!"

"I asked her to leave which she thankfully did." Leah seemed as if she wanted to say more yet miraculously remained silent.

My jaw clenched as I refrained from telling her something I would regret. Leah's hate for vampires wouldn't disappear overnight just because I'd imprinted on one.

After brushing my teeth and showering, I talked to mom calmly reassuring her that I was just fine.

Then I made breakfast out of my routinely habit, effectively sparing Leah the opportunity to make a mess. I made sure to handle the utensils very carefully not wanting to alert her to my...significant increase in physical strength. It would just precipitate a whole new lecture.

"So where are you off to now?" She asked in a surly tone as she cleared the table. "Like I even have to ask?"

I chuckled once. "I've got a few errands to run." I said casually. They did not involve a visit to the Cullens however. But as soon as I attended to a few mundane tasks, there was nothing that could stop me from going there.

* * *

I drove to the outskirts of town where my old barber operated. I could have found one closer to home but I had been going to this particular barber to get my hair trimmed since I was a young boy. Uncle Tommy. He'd been an old friend of my dad and I hadn't been to his shop since I'd returned from New York.

My hair had grown out a bit now, beginning to brush my shoulders and that had resulted in my wolf's fur becoming longer and shaggier as well. I recalled last night how my fur had brushed against her as I had stood close to her in my dementia. She'd been so scared...

Sighing heavily, I parked the vehicle and slid out, striding towards the entrance and pushing the door open. It made a familiar ringing sound as I entered and it reminded me of when I'd always come here before. When life had been uncomplicated even before I began to phase. Not that I was complaining but now I just wished she and I could share some sort of normalcy, that we could do certain routine things together but that seemed highly unlikely right now.

The shop was empty at this hour of the morning except for Tommy himself reading the newspaper. He looked up as I came in, frowning in slight concentration a bit.

"Hey, you look kinda familiar."

I grinned. Hadn't been here since five years ago so I guess he hardly recognized me now. Then he smiled widely, standing up and reaching his hand to thump me on the shoulder.

"Why, it's Seth Clearwater! I'd recognize that grin anywhere. Just like Harry." He grabbed me in swift bear hug.

"I can't believe how much you've changed, man. You're practically a giant now." His round face sobered a bit as he added, "I was so sorry to learn of your father's passing."

"Yeah." I said quietly, shoving my hands in my pockets as I ducked my head briefly.

Tommy shook his head sadly before resorting back to his cheerful self.

"So the usual?"

"Sure..." I said as the door swung open again behind me.

"Dad, they're out of the chocolate covered donuts so..." The light voice trailed off as we turned to look at her.

A slim dark haired girl stood just inside the door, gaping at us.

"Well don't just stand there. Get the coffee going." Tommy said jubilantly moving to prep the station now.

"Uh yeah...dad." The girl said hesistantly, tearing her eyes way and moving awkwardly to the back of the shop.

I sat on the chair as Tommy began to work on my hair.

"You don't remember Anne, my daughter do you?

He added before I could tell him that I didn't. "Nah you really wouldn't. She was ever hardly here in the shop back then. Helping me out this summer while her mom's on vacation with her new toy..."

I sort of tuned him out as he went into the nitty gritty details of his divorce. To pass the time I started to count the seconds until I could see_ her _again. Tommy trailed off leaving me for a sec to go get something.

"Um hello?"

I opened my eyes not even aware when I had closed them to stare blankly at...Anna was it... who stood twisting her fingers as she stared at me.

"Can I...get you anything?"

I smiled automatically, saying softly, "No thank you."

"Ok." She turned to go but then faced me again, saying hurriedly.

"Are you from around here?"

"No, I'm actually from Forks."

She stuck out her hand towards me. "I'm Anne by the way." She said smiling hugely.

"Seth." I grasped her hand as lightly as possible not wanting to hurt her by accident.

She gasped suddenly. "Oh wow, you're so hot!"

Her face immediately went red as she stammered, "I mean..your..your hand...your skin..."

I reclaimed my hand quickly, my grin still in place as I muttered, "Yeah, think I'm coming down with the flu or something."

"Anne!" She jumped a bit as her father approached us now. "I need some fresh towels."

She scurried off turning back to wave awkwardly at me. I lifted my hand in acknowledgement, still grinning a little then shaking my head slightly when she disappeared into the back room.

Tommy continued trimming my hair then and I continued to ponder on how to get Jane to come to my birthday bash later.

* * *

A few hours later I was nervously taking a deep breath as I turned off the ignition in the car where I had parked in the huge garage of the Cullens' home. In the end I just decided I would show up to take her and would try my best to convince her if she didn't want to go.

Resolutely I strode towards the gleaming door that led to the kitchen area, lifting my hand to knock when the door opened.

Alice grinned at me. "Come on in Seth! Happy birthday!" She said brightly, tugging my hand to lead me into the living area. To my surprise I saw Jane seated on one of the cream leather sofas almost hidden from me as she sat in the corner among the others. Alice skipped over to Jasper glancing at Jane pointedly. The rest of the Cullens came up to me, politely extending birthday greetings as I stared at her.

Her long hair was partly covering her face as she stared down at the carpet.

Slowly she raised her face, her luminous eyes staring straight into mine then flicking briefly down my body. I shifted slightly, disguising my shock at the changing hue of her red eyes. They were no longer completely red. There was a distinct ring of gold around the red colour now. I had heard of the change but seeing it myself did not make it seem any less surreal.

"Why did you cut your hair?" Of all the things she could have said that was the least of the lot I expected. I shrugged, glancing down now as everyone stared at us.

"I always keep it short."

She stood up, walking towards me and I glimpsed at her as she approached. She had on that dress. The green one with a short, swingy cardigan covering her shoulders buttoned up to partly cover the low neckline.

I was elated that apparently she'd decided to come with me. Holding out my hand to her I said huskily, "You ready?"

Jane nodded. She placed her hand in mine hesitantly, almost self consciously then sighing exasperatedly she pulled me to her as she whispered, "Seth, don't ever do that to me again."

Immense relief surged through me as I realised my episode from last night had not affected her need to be physically close to me. I swallowed harshly as I bowed my head down to her golden one barely holding myself back from burying my face in her soft strands.

We needed to get out of here.

She gripped the lapels of my shirt, the tips of her pale lashes brushing the tops of her cheeks as she inhaled. Yeah we needed to leave _now._

"Uh, we'll see you guys later." I said as calmly as possible, slipping my hand around hers as I made to move towards the door.

"I hope you don't mind but we'll be joining you." Bella said almost reluctantly.

"We'll meet you there." Edward added considerately.

Jane turned to glare at them sharply, seething quietly but I guided her out before me now.

"Sure, not a problem. See you there." I said quickly.

"Seth I presume Jake updated you on not phasing?" Carlisle interjected smoothly.

"Yeah he did." I nodded as we walked out. "Later."

"Aren't they _adorable_ together?" Alice stage whispered behind us gleefully.

* * *

I was driving slowly towards the reservation, smiling a bit as I felt her eyes on me.

"What?" I said quietly, my eyes on the road.

"Why don't we just keep driving? Out of here where no one can find us...somewhere where we can't possibly be found."

I glanced at her quickly in surprise. Her expressed wish was right on track with my thoughts. I would do anything for us to do just that.


	23. Chapter 23

**Author: Please bear with me as I focus a bit on Seth and Jane together...I'm a teensy bit in love with this couple : D I'll be posting an update chapter on Volterra really soon... keep reviewing!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight**

**Chapter 23**

_**Jane**_

"Why don't we just keep driving? Out of here where no one can find us...somewhere where we can't possibly be found."

I didn't know what I was thinking to blurt out such a thing. But it was exactly the way I felt. And always I found myself inadvertently saying what was on my mind whenever I was with him.

I didn't know what the outcome of my stay in Forks would be, didn't have an idea why Aro, Alec and the others were not here as yet but those things were no longer a priority for me at the moment.

Resolutely, I decided I would savor this moment I had with him, join with him in this ritual celebration. Just pretend for one evening that I was a normal girl out with her 'date'. A normal girl who hadn't lived for centuries committing unspeakable deeds.

He glanced at me now, this pleasantly surprised look on his face. So he did wish that we could just disappear together as well. A big satisfied smile unwittingly stretched my lips but then I sobered as the fleeting thought crossed my mind that we would never be able to do that. Not with Demetri's tracking skills. There was not a spot on earth where he wouldn't find us. But what in the hell was I thinking anyway? I belonged in the Volturi and this was nothing but a wild day dream, an escape if you will, that would end all too quickly.

"There's nothing more I would like than to do that."

The deep timbre of his voice cut through my mounting anxiety and I firmly reminded myself not to dwell on any more thoughts of the murky future. Not today.

He didn't say anymore as he continued to drive and there wasn't anymore that needed to be said. I knew he was extremely close to his family and wolf nature. Even if we could have run away together, it wouldn't be easy for him to just drop everything either.

His deep, woodsy scent was unrelentingly making my throat dry and...achy. I wanted his blood so much but determinedly I fought down my hunger. I would not bother him with this now

Looking at his handsome profile, I leisurely admired how his crisp white shirt looked against his smooth, coppery skin, the long sleeves covering the clenching muscles of his right arm as he maneuvered the vehicle easily. I hadn't been able to stop my eyes from going to the fit of his dark denim trousers earlier, when he'd come to get me at the Cullens. I loved looking at him...He turned to glance at me, that distinct Seth grin on his face. The picture of him as a baby that I had memorized in detail popped into my head.

And I remembered the events of the last two nights past that had led me to come into contact with such a treasure. Remembered the acute fear I had experienced when he lost consciousness in my arms.

It was an even more intolerable fear than when he had frightened me in his aggressive wolf demeanor. That fear I could have dealt with somehow but to think that he was not alright, that he could be hurt had been unbearable.

Everyone had rushed to help, Carlisle and Emmett grasping him to take him inside together with myself because I simply refused to let go of him. After checking Seth, Carlisle had said that he was only unconscious and that he would come around when his body recovered at his own pace.

Then his sister Leah had burst into the house, storming towards us not an ounce of fear in her as she regarded me with blatant derision. I had looked away awkwardly from her. Just a mere three weeks ago, I would not have hesitated to use my power in the face of such hostility. Now I did not even have any desire to do so at all.

I had to admire her courageous tenacity and protective possessiveness of her brother. Immediately she had ordered the other hesitant wolves that accompanied her in their human form, to carry Seth home. I didn't want to oppose her, had no desire to counter her will with regard to her wishes that they take him to his home. The only obstacle was that I was going as well.

She had stood there calling me a host of derogatory terms as I simply faced her. When she had paused for a breath, I quietly insisted that I was still coming along.

"Like hell you are!" She sneered. The one called Jacob had intervened saying, "She's his imprint Leah. If she wants to be there, she should be. And most of all Seth would want her to be."

Without saying anything further Leah had shouldered her way past the Cullens leading the other Quileute men to hoist an unconscious Seth into their truck.

Bella had said softly, "We'll go with you."

I nodded abruptly.

I hadn't even felt my usual irritation at my two 'bodyguards' as we ran through the woods towards Seth's house.

While Bella and Edward stood patiently outside, I sat there with him for hours watching him in his comatose state, thinking yet again how much better off he would be if I had never come here. I heard...Leah... on the phone frantically speaking to someone but I paid her words no heed. She didn't come into Seth's room once while I sat there beside him.

Sometime in the wee hours of the morning, she'd eventually given in to her need for sleep. Warily I had glided into the tiny living area, curiously looking around. I touched the funny little ornaments attractively splayed about on some sort of stand then I had grasped a framed picture. It was a family portrait of his parents and Leah as a child.

And Seth as a baby.

I stood there for an interminable length of time staring at the smiling toddler lovingly held in his mother's arms. He looked so happy, his ruddy cheeks dimpled in this huge, heart tugging grin. That same grin which even now as a young man hadn't really changed. I smiled softly.

The sound of fast approaching footsteps ended my reverie. I heard a woman's voice speaking with Bella and Edward just outside the door before the door was swung open noisily and she stepped into the room, Edward and Bella just behind her.

His mother.

Her mouth opened into a round 'o' of seeming shock as she silently stood on the threshold, her eyes glued to me. I stared back at her unblinkingly not knowing what to say, wondering if I should say anything at all.

The sound of the door opening had jolted Leah awake and she sat up hurriedly, quickly glancing at her mother, then glaring at me. She shot up from the sofa where she'd been asleep, her eyes going to the portrait in my still hands. Extending her own arm, she had snarled, "Give that to me. And get out."

I looked down at the picture once again in my hand.

"Jane we should leave now." Bella said quietly, not looking at Leah at all.

Slowly I walked to Leah holding out the portrait which she snatched roughly from me. I looked down at the floor uncomfortably as I darted past his mother, who was still unnervingly quiet as she regarded me, and rushed out of there.

I decided I wouldn't tell him anything of my brief visit to his house. I had already created enough tension as a result of his...imprinting...on me and I didn't want to cause an even bigger rift between him and his family. He would need them when I left.

"Are you...thirsty?" He asked me suddenly.

When he said this I became painfully aware again of the familiar burning sensation in my throat. Instinctively my fingers grasped my neck and I had barely completed that gesture before he speedily screeched the vehicle to a halt.

"Jane, you should have told me." He said to me, frowning heavily now.

"Seth calm down. I'm not dying." I said to him now as he swiftly got out of the car. He foolishly went around to my side of the car, risking his hide so he could open my door for me.

I stepped out hurriedly, grabbing his hand. "Would you at least get out of the road?"

He had stopped the vehicle neatly at the side of the street and the road was clear but still. He led me now into the forest that bordered the roadside. Releasing his hand, I began moving at an inhuman speed, out of habit.

"See if you can catch me!" I squealed playfully.

I darted off then, running at vampire speed through the thick undergrowth. I had to lift the long dress a little as I ran but I didn't really intend to go far anyway. I just wanted to tease him a little knowing he could never keep up with me in his human form.

The natural breeze became a furious wind as I whooshed past the towering trees at an incredible pace, smiling with exhilaration as my hair trailed behind me. I briefly turned back to catch the bewildered look on his face as I ran. I rounded a small hillock in the deep forest which cut my view of him. Laughing with carefree abandon, I was actually enjoying my little game.

Just as I thought I would stop so he could meet up with me, I saw him dash past me. I did a double take.

_What?!_

I couldn't make sense of what I just saw. The possibility of my vampiric sight failing me seemed more probable than the speed with which Seth ran. _In his human form._

I was still running so that I ran directly into him. He had come to a standstill facing me so that my body hit his hard. He stumbled back a bit but amazingly didn't fall down. Placing my hands on his chest, I stared into his serious eyes with shock.

"Seth how did you..." My words trailed off as I noted the look on his face. Hs eyes seemed to be burning with this intensity as he stared at me. He didn't touch me at all with his hands but instead used his body to push mine back right against the trunk of a redwood tree, keeping me pinned between the tree and him as he placed his hands on the tree above me.

"Don't ever run from me, Jane."

I couldn't look away from him. Even if I wanted to. His expression was almost harsh in its seriousness as he stared down at me.

"Seth, it was just a game." I whispered now. He lowered one of his hands to touch my cheek as his eyes went to my mouth. I couldn't breathe. If I took so much as one breath, I would want his blood. But right now I wanted him to kiss me more. Without my thirst distracting me.

I actually raised myself on tip toes, grasping his shirt tightly as I stared at him staring at my mouth.

I couldn't care how eager I appeared not when he was so enticingly close to me. Not when his hardness kept me from moving even though I wanted to.

Wanted to move against him.

Slowly his lips touched mine.

Softly. Just once. Then he slipped his fingers through his shirt, unbuttoning it.

He released the top few buttons to expose his throat. Taking a deep breath, he tore his eyes away from me and stared beyond into the silent forest.

"You need to feed, Jane."

"That's not what I want, right now."

He closed his eyes, bending his head back a little. When he opened his eyes to regard me now, his expression was light again, that intense burning look had evaporated. He grinned endearingly down at me.

"It's what you need, right now." He whispered. Concern furrowed his brows. "Your eyes are getting dark again."

He was probably worried about me being at the reservation in my state. I knew he was thinking that I shouldn't be in a thirsty condition around humans. With him right beside me though, humans' blood no longer appealed to me the way it used to.

Slowly I let out a deep breath, pressing my face against his throat. I coudn't deny my thirst any longer.

* * *

He stopped the car as we now arrived at his little shindig. It was at the beach and we could hear people laughing and music playing. There was a small crowd gathered some distance from where we still sat in the car.

I was glad I didn't have to wear those dreaded sunglasses or contacts to be here. And it was approaching dusk, the sun safely setting so I wouldn't be a shining spectacle as well.

What bothered me was the fact that even though these people knew what I was, they despised my kind.

"Seth I don't think I should be here..." I began hesitantly but he quickly said, "Of course you should."

I shook my head, smiling softly.

"I should...only from your point of view. I would make everyone else uncomfortable."

"No, you won't. Everyone understands that you're my imprint Jane, except you."

"Just because they know or understand..._that_...doesn't mean they would want me here." I mumbled staring down at the miniscule grains of material of my dress in the dark car.

"You're here with me," Seth said firmly. And no one will bother us."

I looked up as he clasped my hand gently. His deep, husky voice sounded so intimate in the small confines of the car, I could almost feel the tones of it reverberating right through me. His eyes pierced mine and I looked back helplessy at him. Why had I never wanted to stare into his expressive eyes before? All my anxiety disappeared as we looked at each other but something like pain filled his gaze now.

"I want you to have this. Don't matter what happens...you'll always have this to...think of me."

He placed something in my hand and I reluctantly broke my gaze from him to stare down at an intricate silver necklace with a small ruby pendant attached. The letters 'S & J' were engraved on the surface of the shimmering red stone in tiny silver configurations.

It was beautiful.

"The ruby reminded me of your eyes...when we first met." He said lightly.

Of course my eyes were no longer a ruby colour but it didn't bother me so much anymore. Not when the looming threat of Aro was on the horizon. Not when this would be over any day now. I was fiercely glad that they were taking their time to come here.

"Seth...it's beautiful." I whispered to him as his face crinkled into that heart tugging grin.

" But shouldn't I be the one to get you something? It's your birthday."

He shrugged. "It doesn't matter." He gestured that he wanted to clasp the necklace on me.

"Allow me?" He said and I twisted around so that he could clip it behind my neck. His warm, long fingers swept my hair caressingly over my shoulder and his hand unerringly brushed against the other necklace I customarily wore.

His fingers followed the path of the necklace, around my neck and down to the tops of my breasts. His hand hesitated there then as the necklace disappeared down into my dress.

"What's this one?" He asked curiously. I sighed, reaching my own fingers to slip out this ancient relic where it rested in the centre of my breasts. Turning around to look at him, I showed him the Volturi crested pendant.

He grasped it, frowning slightly as he stared down at it.

"All Volturi wear one, it's the symbol of our commitment to Volterra for all eternity." I explained.

The Volturi pendant slipped numbly from his hands as he looked away.

"I guess I can't compete with that."

Shaking my head emphatically, I gripped his face, turning him to me and said quickly, "The Volturi doesn't exist for me."

Wonder lit his eyes and his lips parted slightly in shock. I bit my lips at my rash words. I hated to have to say anymore knowing it would hurt him but I couldn't lead him to believe that certain things had changed.

"They don't exist for me, _right now." _I emphasized. "But when the time comes, I will leave with them, Seth."

His jaw clenched tightly as I said this and he suddenly grasped my waist as he pulled me closer to him.

"No!" He growled sharply, his hands shaking wildly where they grasped my waist. His expression had changed completely becoming wild and...furious. Then his entire body was quaking as he began breathing harshly through his teeth.

My delicate fingers desperately grabbed at his hands where his strong fingers gripped me so tightly.

But I couldn't budge his hold on me.


	24. Chapter 24

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight.**

Chapter 24

Seth

I was so close to phasing right in the tight confines of the car as I struggled to regain control of myself. One minute I had been my normal self then when she had talked of leaving, that had literally made my wolf rear his angry head.

My hands were clamped down around her tiny waist where she desperately tugged at them, seeking to get them off her.

But I would not be moved.

I could _not_ bear the the mere thought of her leaving with those monsters. That mysterious red haze began clouding my vision again and I felt myself precariously on the edge of phasing.

The instinctive inclination of my wolf nature was to ultimately protect her. To provide her with what she needed, to satisfy any want she might wish for. I had already acknowledged to myself that she would want to return to Volterra. So why was I still experiencing this steadily building possessiveness, this need to actually keep her against her wishes? It was quickly becoming uncontrollable, these temperamental episodes. It seemed as if this violent reaction was the only way my wolf senses could communicate my displeasure at the threat of her leaving. Whatever it was, I could _not _phase now.

My fingers bore into her skin through the flimsy dress as I fought the change.

Jane quickly grasped my face then. Her ethereal, lyrical voice sent chills through the ferocious heat of my wolf's ire.

"Seth, it's okay! Please calm down...I'm here and I'm not going anywhere. Please..." She implored frantically.

Growls tore their way out of my throat as I closed my eyes, my body shuddering violently for control.

"Please, look at me? Seth, look at me!"

I opened my feral eyes to her desperate gaze as I concentrated on breathing slowly. I continued to fight to regain control of myself, to wrestle my sanity from the firm grip of my wolf's rage.

The sensation of her silky skin against my face pulled at something within me and effectively calmed my inner frenzy.

Slowly by increments that red haze began to clear from my vision and the violent tremors gradually abated as well. I blinked quickly, her porcelain face becoming more clear as my laser like vision fully returned.

In her attempt to help me regain control, she was half seated on my lap, her face just a half inch from mine so that our noses were touching. Her hands still grasped my face.

We stared at each other in silence as my body became still and my breathing returned to normal.

"You scared me." She said softly.

Automatically my hands grabbed her wanting to hug her, to comfort her but when she jumped slightly, I sighed regretfully, pulling my hands away from her. She sort of scrambled off me, scooting back to her seat, her back pressing against the door.

I raked my hands through my hair exasperatedly, forgetting I had gotten a trim.

"Jane, I'm so sorry."

"I swear Seth, I have never been so continuously shocked since that afternoon you grabbed me!"

She shook her head slightly.

"I could have hurt you." I was filled with remorse that I couldn't control myself then irritation. Not even when I had first begun phasing did I have such slippery control.

"I'm not some fragile human. I am a powerful, experienced vampire with her share of battle scars. It may not be literal scars but I've...learned and seen things that have ultimately left their mark on me."

I was horrified that she would compare my diminishing control to a...battle. That comparison proved how much she was apprehensive of me now. If it was a battle, it was a battle within myself not against her. Though I could have hurt her now if I hadn't regained control...

"This isn't a battle. I said painstakingly, "And I'm supposed to protect you..."

She looked at me sharply.

"No Seth! That's not your duty. I have always been capable of taking care of myself. And the Volturi will never allow anyone to harm me." She bit her lip and glanced at me now when she mentioned the Volturi.

But they weren't here now. She was.

With me.

And with everything that I was, I wanted it to stay that way. Though that was more than likely wishful thinking, I thought wistfully.

I knew I had to come to terms with her seemingly unbreakable tie to that legion of monsters. I looked down at the necklace in my fist that I had gotten her. I had personally overseen the design of it myself, ordering it after that first day she'd stayed at the Cullens.

She followed my gaze.

"Thank you so much for this, Seth. I...I'll treasure it...always." She whispered.

Something in me became firmly resolved at her words. Where before I had always told myself that she would leave me eventually, now I personally vowed that it wouldn't be that easy. Not if I had anything to do about it. I had every intention of making sure she treasured it always. Right by my side.

But I didn't tell her that. I was not going to further ruin our evening by risking another volatile, uncontrollable episode. I leaned toward her quickly, methodically clasping the necklace around her slim neck. I placed the pendant to hang just at the swell of her breasts.

My hand lingeringly rested there while she remained absolutely still. "You're beautiful." I said watching her intently.

"I don't want you to be afraid of me." I added as she assessed me warily.

"I'm not...Well, only when you react like that. And I'm...cautious of how much stronger you're becoming. It's confusing. Besides, I possess enough of a violent disposition for both of us."

I felt a burst of elation at the way she referred to 'us'. But she had a point. I was acting totally unlike myself.

I resolved to talk to Carlisle about my spurts of increasing strength and speed. He might have better insight into my startling changes. But right now this didn't occupy my mind too much. I was solely focused on the delicate beauty sitting before me. _My_ delicate beauty.

I could sense even from our relative distance from the gathering on the beach that others were curiously staring at the tinted car. But I didn't care.

"Can I kiss you?"

She inhaled deeply, her gaze slipping to my mouth then darting back up to meet my eyes. She hesitated for long moments. I tried to prepare myself for the crushing disappointment, not blaming her at all that she wouldn't want me anywhere near her after my outburst.

But to my everlasting thrill, she nodded.

Still I wanted to hear the words from her lips giving me permission to claim her mouth.

So I stared at her until she said, "Yes, Seth...please."

The way she said please as if she couldn't bear the thought of me not kissing her, the way her musical voice had articulated that one word so breathlessly, made me growl a bit.

I felt my control slipping a little. Not control of my volatile wolf temperament but control of a different nature altogether.

I gently slipped my hand behind her neck, under the heavy fall of her hair as I slanted my lips across hers urgently. I had intended to do this tenderly, to take my time and savour the taste of her.

But her scent and the closeness of her slender body to mine undermined that intent as my mouth claimed hers gruffly...and thoroughly.

She was so receptive to me. So responsive.

I loved it.

Her hands slid behind my neck as she rose on her knees beside me. As our mouths fused together, we instinctively aligned ourselves closer to each other. I shifted so that she could straddle me now as her fingers dug into my short hair. My hands delved under her jacket, my fingers finding her bare, silky back and I caressed her skin as I kissed her. Running my fingers along that sexy line in the middle of her back was so much better than any of my imaginings.

She didn't need to come up for air. And it seemed neither did I. The side effects of her venom was beginning to show its benefits in the most welcome of ways...

But the juncture of her smooth thighs were pressed right against my bulge and she began mindlessly moving against me now, purring into my mouth. I might be able to physically prolong this but I had to mentally strive for some semblance of control. Before it eluded me completely.

"Jane." I mumbled against her sweet scented lips. Her tongue traced my lips and I forgot what I was going to say...

Loud voices and laughter sounded just outside the car.

In a flash Jane was off me running her fingers haphazardly through her hair and straightening her jacket. It had been just a couple of people passing though, loudly conversing with each other and totally oblivious to us.

I let out a deep breath wondering if it would be so bad if we just skipped the party.

"You really know how to do this well. You must have had a lot of practice." She said this almost dismissively but there was a certain edge to her words that I detected. Was she...jealous?

I couldn't help my wide grin.

"Practice makes perfect." I said teasingly.

"You should consider it a really fortunate thing that I can't use my power on you, Seth. Because I might really be tempted to right now." He heart shaped lips made the most adorable pout. I continued grinning at her indulgently. In so many ways she was precisely how a seventeen year old should be and I was fiercely glad to elicit such responses from her. To help her re-connect with her human side. She could be so charming...and sexy.

And teasing.

"So...you knew I was outside...that night when you...uh...when I...was not really myself."

She looked a bit uncomfortable now, looking away from me.

"Yes." She eventually whispered.

"Did you know before or after you were in the bath?"

"Before." She returned my intent gaze as she added, "I wanted you to...picture me...in there."

I inhaled sharply at her candid admission.

"I like it when you tease me like that." I said, my voice becoming husky at the images in my mind her confession invoked. Right then I knew it was inevitable that I would possess her in every imaginable way. Whether she was aware of it or not, she wanted, maybe even needed me to claim her physically. And it would always be my deepest desire to provide what she needed.

To anyone who didn't interact intimately with her as I did, she would appear detached and clinical. Yet she was anything but.

She burned internally with an intense sexuality that intrigued me...and inveigled me to possess that thoroughly for myself. Just as she had possessed me.

Her innate sensuality could prove detrimental to me though, what with my wolf reacting so strongly. I recalled how I had fought phasing back to my human form just so I wouldn't burst in the Cullens' home and take her right there. When the time was right, I doubt my wolf would interfere though.

I sensed a few of the guys approaching now. They must be wondering what took us so long to join them. I reluctantly stared out the window as they came nearer. Or perhaps they didn't wonder so much as knew, judging from the smirks on their faces.

"We should probably go and join them at the shore now." I sighed.

Paul peeked through the window at us deliberately knocking the glass with exaggerated noise.

I was about to open the door to exit when she stopped me.

She leaned towards me, swiftly re-buttoning my shirt where a bit of my chest peeked out. She smiled at me as I grinned unabashedly at her show of modesty on my behalf.

When we finally climbed out of the vehicle Paul, Josh and Embry stood there watching us blatantly without any hint of censorship.

"You certainly didn't need any a.c. in that car, huh Seth?" Paul mock punched me on my shoulder as he chuckled at his little joke. Jane glared at him as his fist connected to me.

Paul put up his hands in a jesting pacifying manner.

"Whoooh protective are we?" He said mockingly.

Jane silently regarded him, her eyes becoming distinctly menacing.

I quickly introduced her to the guys. She nodded in acknowledgement as their gazes assessed her from head to toe. I growled a bit, not really with malicious intent but just to end their annoying perusal. I knew they didn't really mean anything by it but I was glad when their gazes returned to me.

"We came to see what's the hold up. You know, before you completely miss your own party." Josh said meaningfully.

"Thanks." I said dryly as Jane ducked her head shyly not looking at anyone again at all.

* * *

We strolled together hand in hand at a slow human pace towards the small crowd now. The sun was setting in a range of hues from burning orange to deep mauve on the horizon of the sea line providing a spectacular backdrop to the festive atmosphere. The sound of the waves crashing to shore seemed to be in perfect rhythm to the music that poured out from the large speakers the guys had set up. I had tried to convince them to not go overboard but a birthday was as good an excuse as any to have a party. It was the nature of us Quileutes to make of any and everything a celebration.

Mom came out from among everyone, coming up to me. She hesitated just before Jane and I extending a wrapped gift towards me.

"Happy Birthday, baby. This is from Charlie and I."

"Thanks, mom."

I hugged her with one arm my other hand still being snugly held in Jane's as she lagged behind me. I looked over my shoulder at her, smiling in the hope that I could ease the tense set of her face. I stepped a bit to the side, tugging her hand gently forward so that she stood beside me.

"Mom this is Jane Volturi, Jane meet my mother, Sue Swan."

Jane raised her pale lashes slowly from where her eyes had been riveted to the sand, meeting my mom's curious gaze with that shy way of hers that I was becoming familiar with.

"Hi." Mom said to her smiling slightly. She held out her hand in greeting.

Jane briefly clasped mom's hand.

"Hello." She replied softly. She seemed almost painfully obtuse and withdrawn at times, so different from her regular smart mouth when we were alone together. I had to marvel at the change in her demeanor, how she'd been so cold and...harsh and now how her aggression had waned. I would like to think I had something to do with that. I grinned down at her, hugging her to my side. She glanced up at me briefly, then looked at mom before gazing down at the sand again as if the powdery carpet held some sort of fascination for her. I knew she felt a bit out of place and I wanted to do all in my power to make her feel as welcome as possible.

"You should go say hi to everyone." Mom said.

I looked around at the small crowd, chatting animatedly, some of them moving to the music. I noticed Bella and Edward standing apart by themselves. They nodded at me as they met my gaze. I recognized most of the faces milling around.

"Where's Leah?"

Mom glanced sideways and I followed her gaze. Sam and Emily stood a little distance away, talking animatedly with another couple.

"Oh."

"Yeah." Mom said. "I'll see you, later." She added waving somewhat awkwardly at Jane.

We walked into the thick of everything, everyone shouting birthday greetings to me as Jake, Paul and Rachel came up to us.

"Hey man let's get us some liquor to celebrate your birthday right." Paul said boisterously.

"You guys go ahead." I responded.

"What? Afraid it'll get her drunk when she wants a little snack, later." Paul sniggered while Jake tried to hide his grimace.

I just shook my head doing what I normally did with Paul. Ignore...

I introduced Jane to everyone there and for the most part people were receptive and normal when she was introduced give or take a few curious stares and Paul's out of place commentary which included asking in front of everyone why the car had been 'shaking' before we came out. Complete silence followed his crassly implied statement.

Deep breath. Ignore...

Then Rachel hit Paul sharply on his back and the normal flow of conversation resumed. Jake glanced at me in concern guessing right away that I had been fighting to not phase again.

There were a few extra hard stares from Billy and the other elders who were apart from the younger set in their own little group when we had approached but that was to be expected.

All in all everything was going smoothly. She mostly remained silent, tucked beside me where my arm was wrapped around her as I chatted and shared jokes with the guys.

Then someone decided to light a bonfire. That was a normal occurrence anytime we had any sort of gathering by the shore but when the flames were lit, I felt Jane stiffen. I looked down at her wondering what caused such a reaction to notice that she was staring at the flames as if terrified.

Trying not to draw any unnecessary attention, I gradually drifted away from the others guiding her to a relatively secluded spot. As far away from the fire as possible.

"Does the fire bother you?"

Her unwavering gaze was still fixed on the flames as she responded to my query in a morose monotone.

"I...hate fires."

The way she said that indicated that her 'hate' was not only a product of her being a vampire. Her eyes held this haunted, far away look.

"Is there another specific reason behind your...aversion besides being an inclination of your nature?"

"It's an old story. Nothing to concern yourself with now." She still didn't look away from the flames and I desperately wanted her to come back to me from wherever her melancholy reverie had taken her.

"If it really bothers you, I could ask them to put it out..."

"No, it's...fine." She interrupted me tearing her eyes away from the fire and turning to me.

"You say it's an...old story. Is that when you were changed? When you became a vampire?"

"It's not something anyone would want to hear of."

"I want to know everything about you, Jane. There'll be nothing that will ever be too unpleasant or unbearable for me to know. It would never change how I feel about you."

"Only because you've imprinted Seth. Let's not forget that. Only because I'm your imprint."

"And is that such a bad thing? This connection is something mystical but also it pulls two people together who are _meant_ to be together. If you give me that chance, I can make you happy. You won't have to swear any allegiance to me, you'd be free to enjoy life how it's meant to be. You won't have to drink from humans again or be used only for your power."

"Seth, I know what you're trying to do. But this can't work. I've been too long with the Volturi to try anything different, they're all I've ever known. It's my entire eternity! And what's more, I am a frozen thing, never to move forward since that fateful day Aro made me what I am. I am unchangeable."

"That's not true. It's only been a few weeks since you've been here, been with me. And you've already changed so much! Not just from what can be seen," I softly touched the pale skin at the side of her gold tinted eyes, " but also from in here." My fingers lightly brushed against her chest, where her non-beating heart resided. Her heart might be forever still but I knew her emotions weren't frozen for all time, not with the way she'd responded to me during the relatively short time we'd known each other.

"Give us a chance...give yourself a chance. Just...experience life with me. Think of all the the things you've missed out on, cloistered away in...Volterra. We can go away somewhere, let me show you the kind of life you deserve. To be free to make your own choices...to love...and to be loved."

"Seth..I can't..I _don't _want to think about this right now."

She averted her eyes from mine, resolutely staring down at the sand again. I'd pushed her too much. But not knowing exactly when the Volturi would be arriving made me desperate to show her she needed to do the right thing _for her_. And that didn't involve immersing herself back into that dreary, lethal existence. Even if she decided she didn't want to be with me but instead would try to forge a life beyond that infernal prison, I'd be happy.

She glanced behind me.

"Someone's coming."

"This conversation isn't by any means over."

"It may not be but the conclusion is already forgone."

"I have a theory about melting away your stubborn proclivities, you know."

"And what may that be?" She asked a hint of impatience in her light voice.

With lightening speed, my mouth closed over hers, the tip of my tongue sliding between her parted lips.

"That." I said huskily, raising my face from hers.

I was a little smug at the little protesting sound she made when I'd lifted my lips from hers.

I turned now to Embry who was shifting awkwardly from side to side, looking at us with avid curiosity and a hint of longing in his gaze. I chuckled. He reminded me a bit of when I was a little younger. When I had been impatient to find...her. It was still hard for me to believe that if I had stayed in Forks, I would still be two years younger than his sixteen years.

"We're going to eat now. Uh, you guys...ready?"

I couldn't help smiling at his obvious discomfort as he glanced quickly at Jane.

"Sure, we'll join you in a bit."

He nodded turning quickly and running off to the rest of the party.

I grasped her small, cool hand in my huge warm one.

"You think you could sit over there with me?" Everyone were beginning to sit on benches with tables but it was a lot closer to the bright bonfire which illuminated the area as it was now dark.

"Seth you go ahead...I..I think I'll just stand over here until you're finished."

"It's okay, we could stay here if you're more comfortable."

"No, it's your party, I shouldn't keep you from it."

My stomach grumbled a bit. I was really hungry but maybe I could grab something quick and come back to her right away.

"Seth, you're hungry. Go, eat something. I'll be just fine here."

Of course she'd hear that. I sighed.

"Okay. But I'll be right back."

"Take your time. I'm not going anywhere."

_Right now._ Even though she didn't say it, I knew she thought it. But I could think of a few ways to change her mind...

**Author's Note: I do see some changes to Jane, it'll be just a bit more gradual than Seth's ; ). Some more feedback would be sooo much appreciated. Pretty please?**


	25. Chapter 25

**Author's Note: Thank you very much for your reviews...they made my day! **

**P.S. Seth only smiled back at her because he's polite, not flirting! Um, you'll see what I'm referring to as you read...****  
**

**Chapter 25**

**Jane**

I stood still as a statue watching him run towards the huge burning flames, towards the humans...No, they were not merely humans to me anymore...and neither the enemies I had considered these particular humans to be. These _people_ were his family and friends. And because of the way I now felt about him, I couldn't bear for them to be in danger when the Volturi came here after me.

I stifled my internal shudder as I watched him seamlessly fit into the flow and ebb of normalcy. It was something I would never be able to do, no matter how hard he tried with me. My eyes turned once again almost of their own volition towards the fire. I could remember the unbelievable pain as if it were yesterday. The sound of Alec's and my own screams. The chants of the villagers...

These past few weeks away from Volterra had not changed my outlook on life but I had unwillingly observed how _happy_ the Cullens seemed. And painstakingly acknowledged the envy I secretly harbored of their ties to each other.

Seth may have introduced me to new...sensations and there was no denying within myself that I had grown to...care for him. But I was broken forever by that catastrophe that had marked the beginning of my existence. He was so whole, so good. He had his whole life ahead of him yet he persisted in halting everything because of me.

I allowed the unfamiliar crashing sound of the waves hitting the shore to take my attention away from the fire, staring out into the ocean beyond. I glimpsed back at Seth where he was cheerfully chatting with his friends. As if he sensed my eyes on him, he turned to look at me, his trademark grin lighting up his handsome face. I smiled slightly in return then glanced back at the ocean again.

I would be doing him a huge favour if I were to sneak off and sink into that chilled water, letting it consume me and drift me back from whence I came. But selfishly, I would never do that now. Because I wanted him so much...Like the way you wanted something that you had never aspired for, had never even known you wanted. Being with him was like experiencing a breath of fresh air after being trapped in an airless, dusty room for ages.

I sensed Bella before I saw her as she stepped out of the shadows to quietly come and stand beside me. We stood there in companionable silence for a few moments. I hardly felt any animosity towards her and the others now. Not that she and I would ever be friends or anything as far fetched as that.

Even with the vast capability of my vampire mind, all my emotions were inexorably drawn to Seth.

"He is so hot!" Someone whispered dreamily.

I looked at Bella the same moment she looked at me.

"I know right? It's such a darned shame..." Another voice, light and feminine whispered in response.

It was apparent to both of us that these whispers, meant to be confidential, were being drifted toward our vampire hearing from somewhere behind where we stood. We couldn't attach faces to the voices but it sounded like two...girls...who were not part of the party on the beach. The wind was blowing gustily in our direction so that Seth and his wolf friends even with their acute hearing would not have been able to hear the whispered words.

"Yeah. The first voice sighed. "Such a waste of a specimen like that. To be trapped with such a creature."

"You think he brought her here?"

"I guess we'll find out."

"I mean I've always known about these legends from pa, but I've never seen one. I wonder what it..she looks like?"

"Who cares? She'll just be cold...and frigid. No proper match for any of those hot guys."

In the darkness, I flinched slightly when this unknown person labeled me by the familiar nickname I had acquired from Volterra.

"And _she_ imprinted on one of the hottest of them all." the other voice moaned plaintively.

The persons of the voices in question strolled past Bella and myself then, not seeing us at all where we stood a mere few feet away from them. They could have bounced into our still forms in the darkness.

Which might have been...unfortunate for them, I sneered silently.

Now that they were walking ahead of us, I could see them clearly.

They were two young Quileute girls, probably around seventeen or a little older. They made their way towards the others by the bonfire now. Even though it was night I could make out their features perfectly from where I stood.

One was almost as short as myself, her ebony hair held up in a ponytail. Her slim legs were bare from the thighs down in a 'clingy' dress which looked like it was really meant to be worn as a sweater. The other girl was tall and moved in a regal manner. Her midnight black hair blew loose in the wind, almost reaching to her hips. Her cream, sleeveless dress hugged her voluptuous figure which she seemed proud of as she strolled leisurely with a slightly exaggerated motion of her hips. She was undoubtedly very beautiful.

They approached the others now by the fire, walking into the midst of everyone as they were now clearing the tables. Someone shouted, "it's time to dance!" People laughingly grabbed one another, some moving about in circles, others clasping each other closely as they swayed to the music. In the sudden melee of standing people and moving feet, I lost sight of Seth where he'd been sitting. The crowd cleared a little and I saw him rising hurriedly to his feet and turning towards me as he unerringly found my gaze.

Even though we were several feet apart, the searing contact his eyes made with mine caused me to inhale deeply and unconsciously lick my lips. He started moving toward me then but was intercepted by the beauty in the cream dress.

She glided to him, placing a slim hand on his chest as she craned her neck to smile up at him. He broke his gaze from me to look down at her as she smilingly whispered something to him. He smiled back at her, his lips moving in a response to what she had said to him.

I calmly observed their interaction but inside I was a seething mass of fury. I methodically told myself that this was how it was supposed to be for him. That this beautiful human girl or someone similar to her was who he truly deserved. Someone like her would be able to give and provide him with everything that I couldn't. She certainly wouldn't take from him like a parasite, feeding off his very vitality.

However these benign thoughts did nothing to unravel the intense knot of rage, anger and envy that was beginning to consume me now. Vampires were by their very nature possessive and jealous beings. And right now I was experiencing how much so I could be.

The...girl began moving rhythmically against him like the other couples around them as she laughed at...something he said?

My feet began moving first before I even hissed. Bella instantly clamped her hand on my shoulder, effectively stopping me from going any further.

"Jane, don't."

"Bella, get your hand off me." I spoke through my teeth turning to glare at her.

"Calm down, will you? You're overreacting. Look. " She gestured with her chin and I turned to look back. Seth was shaking his head in negation, gently setting the girl aside as he began to walk towards me.

Quickly I wondered if he had been aware of my reaction. How embarrassing! I turned swiftly to Bella.

"He didn't...see me reacting that way, did he?"

"Nope." Bella was trying her best to stifle her grin but I didn't care about that now. "he didn't."

"Please let's keep this between us. And don't let Edward tell him!"

"Uh, sure." Bella frowned slightly, "Your reaction is nothing to feel bad about. It's...natural for you to feel a little jealous...or a lot. I would too if that had been Edward."

Seth had almost reached us.

"Shhh! I hissed at Bella, "He'll hear you..."

"Hear what?" Seth was standing there, staring at us with a curious smile.

"Nothing!" I said hastily.

"Just...girl talk." Bella said at the same time.

"O-kay." He raised one brow quizzically but didn't pursue it further.

I didn't know exactly why I didn't want him to be aware of my jealous reaction, I just knew I would feel embarrassed somehow.

He held out his hand to me then.

"I would love to dance with my date, if she wishes to?" He said softly.

I glimpsed down at the sand my eyes lingering there before shyly looking at him again. I would have automatically refused to be among the humans...argh, his friends... in such a blatant manner but seeing him with that girl made me feel more bold. Made me feel to show everyone that he was...mine. However momentarily.

So I placed my hand in his as he smiled in elation. He gently drew me towards the other dancing couples now. I would never have thought I could be so close to a live fire and not be bothered by it in the least. But the huge bonfire nearby was now a peripheral non entity as Seth enclosed me in his warm embrace.

A woman's voice melodiously and sweetly intoned words of unrequited love and heartbreak from the large music boxes as we shifted about in each others arms. There were numerous thudding hearts around us and such a thing should have made a vampire thirsty. But I was fixated on only one furiously beating heart, it's frantic rhythm resounding through me where Seth had pressed his chest against me.

It could have been just the two of us on this fire lit beach, dancing together under the vast night sky. At this moment, I was oblivious to everyone and everything save the man before me.

Why did dancing in the arms of a Quileute wolf near a steadily blazing bonfire feel so natural? But more that than that it felt right. So good.

My hands gripping his biceps weren't enough. I reached up to caress the side of his jaw, my fingers trailing down to trace his full lower lip.

It was inconceivable that I had come here to wreak such havoc and ended up falling in love.

I blinked in alarm as that thought resounded through me. Fallen. In. Love?

"Are you alright?"

My eyes found his again as his husky voice brushed against my ear. Looking into his eyes, I was reminded harshly once again that Aro would see all my reactions to him. Would see every detail of how much he had affected me.

To hell with that.

When the time came, Aro would perhaps see how I felt about Seth. So yes, I was going to have a lot of explaining to do. I intended to make it quite clear that I belonged in the Volturi and my little dalliance would in no way impact my revered position in Volterra. I would convince him that Seth was no threat to my solid, eternal vow.

Being with him was like a much needed vacation that I ultimately deserved after having served Aro so loyally for so long. _Yes, keep telling yourself that...when you know this is so much more._

I shook my head trying to dispel my ruminations.

"Jane?" Seth was looking at me questioningly.

A genuine smile spread across my face as I stared back at him. He always elicited such...positive reactions from me. Well, most times, which was in itself quite a feat to accomplish.

"I'm more than fine." I said in answer to his earlier query.

"Would you like to go for a walk with me?"

"You mean you want to take me on a 'romantic stroll'? I said lightly, quoting his description of a date.

"That's exactly what I'm asking." His eyes smoldered as he uttered hoarsely.

My teasing smile slowly slipped away as I squirmed with the effect of his eyes on me.

"Yes. Now." I whispered.

* * *

We walked slowly along the shore our hands intertwined tightly, simply listening to the beat of the ocean against the sand. My 'ballet flats' were soaked by the salty water as it splashed against my feet but I didn't mind.

There was a half moon partly obscured by a few clouds in the dark sky. The wind whipped my long hair wildly about me as I watched at the moon. It reminded me of a tale I had read, from the numerous ones I had read in the humongous Volterra library. These tales to a human would be mythical but the Volterra library only contained meticulously kept records of real findings and facts. The tale had been about the Children of the Moon. They had no relation to Seth and his Quileute nature however. Yet I still asked teasingly,

"So your...wolf is not bound by the changes of the moon?"

"Not at all. We're not technically werewolves as the myth goes." I smiled at the seriousness in which he said this. His secret Quileute nature was a matter of immense pride to him, that much I knew.

"It's no myth though. There were real werewolves apart from your shape shifting species. Their shift was brought into motion by a full moon, as well as...other urges..."

I couldn't believe I just said that. How much forward could I be?

"I don't need any moon to feel the way I continually feel about you, Jane."

I felt my face grow warm. It was just the way he said that...

"Did you just...blush?"

"Of course not."

Yet he continued to stare with a confounding expression at my face. I touched my cheeks a bit curiously. I could feel the emotional effects of blushing but it was impossible for me to show it. Yet I had felt blood rushing to my face as if my body had done just that.

"Your..cheeks are...were...red." He placed his fingers over mine, the tips touching my skin directly. "Seems as if my blood is affecting you as well." He added.

I was silent, contemplating the meaning of such a development.

"We'll think about it later." Seth said softly drawing me to him. Just like that my worries evaporated. Our lips molded themselves to each other.

I experienced unbelievable hurt however when he tore his mouth from mine abruptly just a few moments later. I swallowed convulsively, looking away as I almost gasped at the loss of the sensation of his mouth moving against mine.

"If we don't stop now, I won't be able to control myself." He ground out, breathing harshly.

My eyes quickly darted to him again as I sighed in relief.

"I...I thought you didn't want..." I pressed my lips tightly together. I really needed to form some sort of barrier between my thoughts and what I actually said to him.

"You thought I didn't want to kiss you anymore?" He all too easily made the leap. He frowned shaking his head as his eyes bore into mine.

"Jane kissing you is just a small part of what I want to do with you." His eyes slowly roved over me. "I thought I made that quite clear but it seems I'll have to do more to convince you."

I wondered what his 'convincing' would entail.

The tip of my tongue slid out to lick my lips instinctively. Seth closed his eyes. "Please, baby don't...do that..."

"Maybe we should head back." I suggested, knowing fully well that he wouldn't want to just yet.

"No! I mean...I want to spend some more time with you. Alone..." He smiled mischievously.

"I wonder if I could out run you now?" He said musingly, one of his long fingers brushing against his lips speculatively.

"Don't get ahead of yourself." I said watching his finger caress his mouth.

"There's only one way to find out."

I raised my eyes to his, my brows raising as well at his confidence. I was centuries old and while I had not particularly used speed very often to accomplish my goals, I was still very fast. Whereas he was now experiencing a taste of this speed in his human form. Because of my...venom.

"Alright wolfman, let's see what you can do."

I released his hand, sliding off my jacket and briefly thought of ripping off the edge of my long dress but settled for tying it above my knees, figuring we would have to go back to the party. And re-appearing in a ripped dress would not do.

"Not fair." Seth complained. I glanced at him in askance.

"You..stripping like that. It'll distract me."

"I am _not_ stripping. Are you backing out?"

"No way. Let's do this."

He went into a runner's stance. I smiled gamely. The spirited inflection of his voice was strong with excitement over the crashing waves and buffeting wind.

"On the count of three. One, two, three..."

We darted off at the same time running at an inhuman speed along the shoreline. The bonfire and voices from the party got further and further away until we couldn't hear them anymore. Just ahead the shoreline disappeared into heavy forestry. I looked at Seth and he glanced at me, nodding. We were taking this into the trees.

It was even more exhilarating weaving in and out between the huge trees as we beat a furious path through the woods. Night creatures screeched and howled upset at our playful intrusion into their domain.

I was surprised at how well he kept up with me in his human form.

Then he did it again.

I ran straight into him where he had deliberately placed himself before me. His sturdy arms immediately went around me, closing me tightly to him.

"I guess...you win?" I said hesitantly. His face was very sober as he regarded me now.

"There's a cliff falling away to the ocean just ahead of us. I..I should have known better than for us to race in the forest like this."

I shrugged. "So what if I had run off?" His protectiveness was a bit sweet but he underestimated my resilience. "That wouldn't hurt me Seth. Unless you could be injured if you dived off..."

He scoffed lightly, "No. I've been diving off these cliffs since I started phasing."

"Then you just spoiled some good fun!" I smiled at him playfully but he continued to look at me seriously, his expression filled with dread and a hint of confusion.

"You mean if you dived in the water you wouldn't..." He trailed off shaking his head slightly.

"I wouldn't what?"

Then I realized what this was about. He thought if I jumped off the cliff and went into the ocean that I would keep swimming. Away from here. Away from him.

A few weeks ago I might have done just that. But now a tidal wave couldn't keep me away from him right now. The only thing that would effectively make me leave is when the Volturi came for me.

"No, I wouldn't swim away. I'm past trying to escape...all I can do right now is...wait."

"You know when they're coming, don't you." He didn't phrase it as a question.

I took a deep breath. He deserved to know.

"They were supposed to be here a week ago. But...I don't know what's keeping them."

"What do they want?"

"Seth...I can't tell you more. If I do it's like I would be killing you myself. The less you know, the better. If my...master were to find out that you knew this much..."

"Wait, wait, wait! Your _master_?"

"Yes! The one who created me and whose orders I follow." _Except this time_, I added silently. At least my mind filter seemed to be working now.

"You're not a slave to anyone!"

I couldn't comprehend his outrage. Aro as my master, as my guide in this life was something I had always willingly resigned myself to. I could not have navigated my long existence without the numerous duties and missions that Aro had implemented. I viewed it as a sort of rigid discipline.

"I can't _wait_ for them to come here." Seth's voice was rife with aggression as he said this and a chill made its way down my spine at the menace in his tone.

"Seth, there's nothing you or even I for that matter, can do. The Volturi's power is incalculable...don't try anything foolish. You'll only get yourself killed!"

Seth chuckled mirthlessly. "I didn't see that happening the last time. We'll all stand against them! The Cullens and the wolf packs. And there're allies who would as well. Your Volturi should be the ones who don't try anything foolish, Jane." He said softly, the quiet tone of his voice not diminishing the horrific picture he painted.

"We'll kill them all if we have to!" He added not an ounce of fear in his voice.

"You can't! Besides even if by some miracle you could get past the guard, if you ever touch my brother, I'd hate you forever!" I whispered, my eyes boring his with a mounting menace of my own.

The steely glint in his eyes cleared as his expression softened. "Your brother?"

"You don't know anything about me at all." I said coldly to him now, turning away from him.

"But I want to. Everything."

I resolutely kept silent, my arms rigidly folded across my chest vainly trying to ignore his husky voice.

His warm breaths were falling just against the side of my exposed neck as he stood behind me, his body touching mine. The dark forest mimicked my silence as we stood there in the thick undergrowth.

His large hands lightly grasped my hips from where he stood behind me.

"Don't touch me!" I seethed venomously.

His hands fell off right away.

"Jane, please don't be mad at me. I...got carried away. I just want to understand more about you...to know everything about you."

I wanted to remain angry but the damndest thing of all was that I _wanted_ to talk to him, too. About my past, even about the forbidden Volturi. Though that was the one subject that seemed to always cause a rift between us. Talking about this would do no good.

Slowly turning to face him again I was appalled to see the anguish stamped on his face. Because he couldn't bear for me to be mad at him. I sighed. We were hopeless, him and I.

Then something occurred to me. If I were to let him know of the deeds I had committed, well some of them anyway because there was no way I could recount them all in one night, then that knowledge might deter his ardor for me. When he heard first hand what I was capable of, he would then know how I truly was...and perhaps it would make the break easier for him ...when it was time for me to leave.

There was nothing that would make it easier for me, though.

He uncannily seemed to sense my weakening resolve to confide in him.

"There's a spot not too far from here...right on the cliff. We can sit there. If you'd like..."


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26**

**Seth**

The roar of the ocean crashing against the rocks below the jutting cliff was somewhat soothing to my riled senses. Both my wolf and human ones. We sat just before the edge facing each other in silence. The heavy clouds had parted to reveal the half moon again. Its light emphasized her ethereal beauty making the vivid green of her dress appear even more startling against her ivory skin.

She was staring at the mountainous terrain visible from our high perch, her small pearly teeth unconsciously biting her smooth, pale lip.

I sat there patiently, one of my legs stretched out on the soft grass while the other was bent as I rested my arm on my knee striving not to stare at her so hard. But failing miserably.

If I could stay here with her for the entire night just simply looking at her, I'd be a happy man.

She dragged her wide eyes almost reluctantly to me now and her lips parted then closed again as if she wanted to start talking but then lost her nerve.

"C'mon it can't be so hard." I coaxed her gently.

"Well it is. It's... difficult for me to talk about my life, to open up myself to you like this. It's certainly not_ easy_."

I frowned regretting my rash comment. Of course I should have known that she had not really confided in anyone throughout all these long years apart from her...Volturi peers perhaps. And I recognized then the immense gift she was giving me. She didn't have to tell me anything. But she chose to reveal her life to me and I was fiercely grateful that she even wanted to.

"I didn't mean it would be easy...I just want you to be able to tell me anything and know that I wouldn't judge you."

"It's not a matter of you judging me...that's not what I'm worried about. When I mentioned leaving with the Volturi, you...didn't handle that well. I need to know that you'll only listen, Seth. That you won't overreact to anything I might say."

"I won't." I vowed. I could rein my temperament. I _would_ do that for her. Usually I would never even have a problem controlling my temper...but she was changing me. Just as I believed that I was somewhat changing her. And I was almost desperate to believe that all these changes between the both of us would result in something great.

She sighed heavily, beginning to bite that lip again. I dragged my gaze away from her mouth.

"So you have a brother as well...in the Volturi? What's his name?" I prodded her, trying to get her to open up to me...and to distract myself from leaping across to her and pressing her against the grass.

But I really wanted to know, nonetheless.

"Alec." She whispered sadly, staring down at her pale hands. "He's my twin brother, created a vampire the same time I was."

My brows shot up in surprise. "Your twin? Whoa." I could see from the look on her pale face how much she missed her brother. Shame washed through me. She seemed so desolate and all I could think about was 'jumping' her. Sighing softly, I scooted closer to her, wrapping an arm about her slim shoulders. She smiled a little, leaning against me.

"Yes, my twin." She hesitated then said, "His power is opposite to mine. Where I can make someone experience unimaginable pain, he can numb all their senses. His power is somewhat similar to how an anesthetic works."

"The both of you must be really coveted by the Volturi...just to use you for their benefit..." I spoke my thought aloud.

She glanced up to stare at me sharply. Closing my eyes briefly, I snapped my mouth shut.

"Never mind that." I said contritely.

She glared at me for a few moments then heaved her slender shoulders in a sigh. I squeezed her arm in what I hoped was a reassuring gesture. She continued to glare at me yet I still had to trail my finger against the smoothness of her cheek. She sighed softly again when I tucked a tendril of her silky hair behind a delicate ear. Then she continued talking steadily as I listened intently.

"You are right though. At least about the coveting part. We are the cornerstone that comprises the top rank of guards in Volterra."

My finger lingered on her cheek as I caressed feather light strokes against her alabaster skin. She smiled gently leaning her face into my caresses before moving with lightening quick speed out of my reach. With uncanny attention, I tracked her inhumanly quick movement to where she was now standing at the front of the border of trees leading to the cliff's edge.

"Come back here." I said quietly. The crashing beat of the waves was the only sound in the night air while she stared back at me.

"No." She said softly. I growled and she giggled a little. The tinkling tones of her light laughter sounded surreal in the dense forested area. With deliberate slowness, I stood up and began a silent stalk towards her.

"Seth, you're distracting me." She said pouting. I couldn't help smiling when she put her lips like that. In the blink of an eye, I was in front of her. She gasped softly, "You're so fast now."

"Yes, you can never outrun me again." I said intending to tease her yet ending up sounding all serious instead. I didn't know how I was going to cope with her leaving. Didn't know if I could...

I ran my fingers through the length of her loose hair, loving the feel of its satiny weight against my skin. She closed her eyes, sighing, "I can never get enough of this..."

"Enough of what?" I asked softly, my gaze riveted on her lacy fringe of lashes brushing her skin. Then she opened her eyes to look directly into mine.

"Your touch." She whispered. She'd barely finished speaking before my lips were on hers, my hands going to cradle her face so that I could kiss her as thoroughly as I needed to. I tugged on her cool lips with my warm mouth, lightly nipping her lower lip. Her lips parted with a dainty growl. Our tongues touched and I groaned against her. The feel of her soft tongue stroking against mine was irrefutably dissolving gravity into oblivion. For that moment it felt like we were afloat in each other's arms and I had no sense of where we were. All my senses were anchored to the feel of her against me, the taste of her in my mouth and her sweet scent engulfing me.

I'd be more lifeless than a long dead planet if she left me. Hell, I'd follow her anywhere, even if Volterra had been light years away.

With steely determination I lifted my mouth from hers. There was so much I still wanted to know about her. She gazed at me with large, drugged looking eyes and I couldn't help feeling a hint of smugness.

"Will you tell me more?" I asked her gently.

"Will you keep distracting me?" She retorted, her cupid bow lips curling up in a saucy little smile.

"I won't.."I said even as I lowered my face to hers again.

"Seth..." Her voice held a mixture of slight reprimand and good-natured exasperation. I'd like to think that her slight frown was one of disappointment when I barely stopped myself from kissing her again.

I grinned ruefully. "Sorry."

"Don't be. Just...hold that kiss for me." She strolled ahead of me and my eyes inadvertently followed the slight sashaying movement of her hips in that enticing dress before she sat down on the grass. She had a natural feminine grace not at all contrived that made her all the more sexy to me. I followed her like a man possessed which in a sense I was and sat on the grass beside her.

* * *

"Our life in Volterra is not so bad as you would think. Aside from the feeding frenzies, well from your perspective anyway."

Feeding...frenzies? I gulped a little. She didn't elaborate on that though.

"One of my favourite places to spend my free time is the vast library. I love perusing the innumerable scrolls and recordings there. I suppose it would have an accounting of your Quileute wolves in there somewhere though I have never come across it. What intrigued me even more about that library were the locked files that not even I as a senior Volturi member was permitted to access."

"But if you had access to such a library, weren't there any books and such on modern lifestyles?"

"The Volturi library only contains carefully recorded material of the supernatural world and the history of the Volturi. There are also countless educational books as well. But not modern paraphernalia like magazines and such."

In my estimation, I thought it did not include modern material just so that the Volturi members wouldn't be tempted to experience life outside Volterra. Cunning bastards...

"I won't go into the individual members and their strengths. That's irrelevant. And it would place you in more danger."

Her concern for me was endearing but unnecessary. I was fully confident that we could successfully oppose, even defeat these Volturi. Or at least send them packing. Again.

"What I really wanted to make clear is how many times I've maimed and killed. Killed other vampires. And humans. I have drained humans countless times to the death. And it meant nothing to me. I...killed an immortal child once. I threw him into a...fire. Without any remorse. And what's more, _all_ the other guards have been under a certain influence from one of our gifted members. It makes them...beholden to Aro...to serve him without any hesitation whatsoever. But I have never needed this influence. All those missions _I did of my own free will._"

I didn't even flinch as I looked at her steadily while she spoke. Though it hurt...badly...to hear her speak of her past without any emotion whatsoever. If she had been trying to scare me, she had been successful. To an extent.

I was scared that I would never be able to help her overcome this way of life.

Her past was already sealed, her deeds could not be reversed. But I fervently hoped that her time here with me had affected her to the point where she would begin to question her lifestyle.

"And would you kill so easily again? Can you kill so easily again?" I still had to ask even if I already had a good idea of what her answer would be.

"Yes."

I swallowed, nodding my head a little. I had expected her to say that but it still pained me. She hadn't even paused in her response. I reminded myself that her habits had been embedded in her psyche for centuries and just a few weeks spent away from that hellhole could not irrevocably change her. I believed though, that she was more content here. That belief made me even more determined that I do all within my power to convince her to stay with me.

"Why do you really hate fires?"

She gasped loudly at my sudden question. He fingers went to her temples as she closed her eyes shut. My arm was around her immediately where we sat side by side on the grass. I simply held her as she shuddered briefly in my arms. She had to know I was going to ask that at one point or the other given her earlier reaction to the bonfire. That she reacted like this to my question told me that what she had to say was going to be really terrible...

"It was a fire that started all this. Our transformation into vampires, our place with the Volturi..." She stopped as if she couldn't say anymore.

"Can you tell me about it?"

She became still and silent again, breathing a bit harshly now and then against my chest. Whatever had occurred with that mysterious fire had her_ traumatized_. I felt so useless as she was engulfed with pain from this memory. To keep such rancor and suffering bottled inside...for two centuries...

I squeezed my eyes shut...such a thing was incomprehensible to me. And to think she had to go through that...the thought was unbearable. I opened my eyes quickly before she saw my reaction and decided not to reveal anything further at all.

Instinctively I knew that she had to talk about this, that doing so would help her to finally acknowledge it fully. And allow her to heal.

But I waited patiently for her, letting her decide without my coaxing if she would tell me or not. She lifted her face from my chest and I almost gasped at the way her face was leached of her normal expressiveness and vigor. Little did I know that this was her regular demeanor before she even knew I existed. She looked so...lifeless...

"The way we would have died was the foundation for our enhanced powers. The pain my victims feel when I use my power is an interpretation of the exact pain I felt when I was burning at the stake."

My mouth soundlessly formed the word 'no'. I looked at her with dawning horror. Horror that she went through such an unspeakable torment. Her face was turned away from me as she continued, her voice devoid of any inflection whatsoever.

"Our human lifetime was a time when 'witches' were frequently burned at the stake." She said that so casually as if it were something completely mundane.

"Most times these people subjected to such a fate were normal humans, wrongfully accused. However we, Alec and I, were real witches. Something we had unsuccessfully tried to disguise. We never knew our parents and it was one of our aunts that reared us from young. She repeatedly told us that we were bastards and our mother had abandoned us. What I really remember of our childhood was the frequent beatings and the revulsion of our extended kin and the villagers. Our family had long suspected that we were not average perhaps by little incidents where we unwittingly showcased our powers. I can't even remember how potent our power had been while we were humans. What I do remember is the manner in which we had finally revealed ourselves, the final incident that would sentence us to the fire."

I was speechless listening to her. My mouth had fallen open as she had talked and glancing at me, she absently with one slim finger lightly pushed against my jaw, effectively closing my open mouth.

" She...my aunt...had announced that I was to be sold at a slave market to the highest bidder who would have me. It was a slave market specifically geared towards selling unwanted girls as wives to bidders. I would have resigned myself to my fate thinking it couldn't be any worse than living with my relatives. Except for the fact that Alec and I would have been separated. And that was not something we were willing to bear. We begged and pleaded to be allowed to leave, to go away and forge a life for ourselves. But my aunt was wary of us, afraid of our combined power and the main reason she wanted me to go to that market was to divide us. We learned later that they had been planning to kill Alec. She attempted to beat us into submission once again but we didn't bear it that time. Not like we once did out of fear of revealing too much of our powers.

My power as a human had been nothing compared to my power now as a vampire. I had managed to stop her though as she screamed more in fright than actual affliction at the tiny pin points of minor pain that she felt all over her skin. As a human, the most pain I had ever been able to inflict was akin to the most severe of our beatings. Yet at that time I only used enough of my power to scare her away from hitting us again. The pain our aunt felt that day was much less intense than most of her beatings. But it was enough to have us sentenced to the stake. Swiftly our relatives had locked us away and we were only let out when the...soldiers came for us."

She stopped abruptly. I still couldn't comprehend that she went through something like that. I felt my wolf stir in agitation but I was able to tamp down the feeling easily. She did not need my wolf's misplaced anger right now. She needed me to be strong enough to listen.

"Before the fire could finish its work, Aro had come for us." She smiled then, her voice becoming tender with reverence.

"If it weren't for him, I wouldn't be existing right now. I owe him everything that I am, for saving my brother, for saving me. As a newborn vampire, I relished the new intensity of my powers."

The way she spoke of this Aro made me clench my jaw a bit. But I had to acknowledge that rescuing her...and her brother...from that hellish fire was the best thing he had done in his probably wretched existence.

Her eyes met mine once again as she said with deliberate emphasis, "I love using my powers, it gives me a thrill to know my strength anytime anyone whether it be vampire or human is in pain before me. It gives me also a certain comfort to know that with my ability, no one would ever be able to try to hurt me again. I'm not seeking any reason to justify that I enjoy frequently using my power. I'm simply telling you how it made me feel."

She paused then. I didn't miss a beat, not looking away from her for one moment. I valued her honesty above all else. It was apparent to me that she was deliberately stressing on her past deeds in an attempt to turn me away from her. Didn't she know that there was _nothing_ that could achieve something like that? Yet I had to ask something that would potentially further her cause.

"And now that you're not really using your power, how do you feel?"

Her eyes darted to me again, widening slightly at my question. A crease crinkled her high, pale forehead as she seemed to grasp for words.

"I feel...I...feel...well at first I hated not having the use of my power when I now came here especially staying at the Cullens and I was so angry that I couldn't...hurt you. I felt so...vulnerable with you. Besides the Cullens who I knew, you were this mysterious stranger, this other supernatural person who had the power to actually hurt me."

"And now how do you feel about not using it?" I persisted.

"Now...it feels like...I mean, I don't...miss it." She said hesitantly, her eyes staring down where her fingers fiddled with the buttons on my shirt.

"Don't you think you're happier now? Instead of when you were trapp...uh living in Volterra?"

"Seth..." She tried to stop me from saying more but I fervently continued.

"I think you don't really miss using your power because you're away from the Volturi's influence. You're free to be you, free to enjoy life without all that death...and all those violent methods surrounding you. Each time you use your power, it only makes you re-live what happened with the fire._"_

She gasped in shock. The devastated look on her face should have warned me that I was going too far. But I was so desperate for her to see my perspective that I forged on carelessly.

"Hurting others kept you locked in that nightmare all the time. You'll never be able to overcome that tragedy and move on if you keep reacting in that way. I understand that you're grateful to the Volturi for saving you..." I couldn't even say her creator's name...even though I'd be forever grateful to him. Vampire or not, she was made for me. I looked deeply into her eyes as I continued, "But you shouldn't have to pay for that forever. They only encouraged you to perpetually keep living in that horrible moment whenever you use your power."

She stared at me with that same devastated, almost hurt expression then the beginnings of anger began to cloud her gold hued red eyes.

"You said you'd just listen." She whispered.

I took a deep breath. "I have been listening. This might not be what you want to hear but...using your power is only making you experience the emotional pain of enduring the fire, _over and over_."

"You're wrong! How dare you say something like that. My power _is _my life!" Tearing herself out of my arms, she shot up like a bullet on the grass and I sprung to my feet as well. Her slim ivory hand moved with blurring speed but I was faster. I swiftly held her wrist before she could hit me.

"Let go of me!" She screamed, her cheeks becoming pink in her sudden rage. Her bell like voice echoed above the crashing waves below us as I stared at her in wonder.

I knew I should have stopped but despite her apparent anger the words still poured out of me.

"I know it's a hard thing to face but you need to see how damaging it is to you, Jane." I held her firmly as she struggled in my arms, trying to fight me. She was trying to fight me physically because she couldn't deal emotionally with the ramifications of what I said.

She slumped against me ceasing her struggles as dry, heaving sobs wracked her body. Heaving out a pent up breath, I released her hand, wrapping my arms around her and rocking her gently back and forth.

God, she was strong, she fought me so hard...and she was weak with pain...

Swallowing harshly, a tear slid down my cheek as she cried against me. I knew for a fact that vampires couldn't cry physically, but her sobs were still unbearable to me.

"It's okay..." I murmured soothingly, my own voice growing hoarse.

We stood there for probably hours as she cried. I simply held her, murmuring comfortingly now and then. Slowly I sank back down to the soft grass clasping her in my arms.

At one point she raised her head from where her face had been pressed against my chest to flick her fingers against her cheeks.

It was then that I saw the tears streaming down her face.

"Jane..." At the sight of her _tears_, my entire body went rigid with shock. My fingers brushed against her marble smooth cheek staring down wonderingly as her tears moistened my fingertips. Clear, natural tear drops.

She stared blankly at my fingers, her hand darting once again to touch her cheeks where the tears were beginning to dry in long trails against her skin. She blinked once, an expression of pure shock fleetingly crossing her delicate features.

Then she didn't blink again or move again for that matter until the sun came up.

At first when I couldn't get any response from her, I was scared out of my wits.

"Jane? Jane! Answer me!" I said frantically, peering at her anxiously. I even shook her shoulders wondering what could be wrong with her. She just sat there still as a statue staring beyond me...her eyes wide and blank...

Hastily I'd fished my phone from my pocket, calling Edward quickly. He'd barely managed to convince me that she might have gone into shock and that she would 'awaken' when she was ready. Not taking my eyes off her, I paced back and forth in a panic on the moonlit cliff right in front of her as she sat so eerily.

Finally I had sunk to my knees before her.

"Jane, please... say something." I pleaded one last time but to no avail. Sighing, I had settled myself behind her, my arms going around her still form as I held her in her frozen state of shock.

Well my wish did come true, at least partially. I sat here looking at her and holding her for the whole night. The only thing that would make me happy is when I knew for certain that she was fine.

As I sat there with her I berated myself mentally. I had pushed her too far. She had trusted me enough to confide in me and the first thing I'd seen fit to do was to tell her how she should cope. I couldn't force her to feel something she wasn't able to face yet. She had to come to those conclusions on her own. I wouldn't be surprised if she wanted nothing to do with me after this.

And so my thoughts went for the better part of the night as midnight turned into dawn.

As the sun began to rise and the forest came alive, I felt her stir in my arms. I quickened when I heard her sigh languidly, "So beautiful."

"Jane? Jane, are you alright?" I tilted my head next to hers so that I could see her face as she sat in front of me. Her bright eyes were open and her gaze roamed over the churning ocean, the vast sky and the soaring mountains.

"The sun, the water...it's all so beautiful." Her gaze was glued on the emerging sun peeking above the mountains opposite our cliff. The golden rays created star beams over the verdant forestry, spilling its reflective light onto the ocean below. It was the most beautiful sunrise I'd ever seen simply because she was here to share it with me.

She turned to smile the most radiant smile at me, the rising sun making her eyes appear even more golden. Or maybe the changing colour was now becoming complete.

Her eyes moved over my face as she whispered, "So beautiful."

Impulsively, I took her delicate hand and kissed her pale fingers softly, never releasing my gaze from her captivating one.

"Jane, I'm so sorry..." I whispered but she stopped me by placing one slim finger on my lips.

"For what? For speaking your mind? Seth, I'm the one who's sorry. I...overreacted. Story of my life." She said lightly but I could still see her slight frown.

"I still shouldn't have..."

"We'll think about it later." She interrupted my hasty apology, repeating my earlier phrase from when I'd kissed on her on the beach. She twisted her body to face me, climbing onto my lap and placing her hands on my shoulders. Then she grasped my short hair at the back of my head, boldly tilting my head back so that my neck was exposed.

Slowly the tip of her tongue darted out to lick her lips.

My already swollen cock surged against her where she was seated so intimately atop me.

Her breath hitched a little as her eyes widened slightly. Then she bent down and trailed her tongue along the length of my neck. I groaned, my hands instinctively going to her hips.

She removed her beguiling mouth from my neck, raising her face to peer down at me. Her fingers slipped to my shirt unbuttoning the first few buttons then she pressed her finger against the rapidly pulsing artery at my throat.

I didn't know how much of her teasing I could take.

"What do you want?" I whispered, my voice breaking a little.

She continued releasing the buttons on my shirt until my bare chest was against hers. Her hand trailed an icy caress down to the top of my jeans.

"You. I want _all_ of you."


	27. Chapter 27

**Author's Note: Thank you loves for your continued appreciation of this story. A special thank you to Kayla A for your wonderful review : D; I know exactly where I'm going with this story yet I love reading suggestions as well...**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight**

**Chapter 27**

_**Jane**_

Sometimes the best things were the ones you had no plans for.

It seemed the most natural thing in the world to be with him like this. On this hidden, scenic promontory overlooking the Pacific ocean, we were just essentially...ourselves. Not necessarily a legendary Quileute wolf and a centuries old vampire who belonged to an ancient, powerful coven. The most important thing that was somehow relevant right now was the feeling that we were free from all the chains that dictated we shouldn't be together.

We were only Seth and Jane.

Two lovers wrapped around each other basking in the heated light of the sun, secluded away from all the things that didn't matter. That _couldn't_ matter in _our _moment. We were lost in nature...and lost in each other.

In this brief bubble of relaxation that enveloped us now, with my mind being momentarily void of all the deep and troubling issues that had plagued me, I thought of what he had said to me last night.

I went through his words with a certain distance, as if he hadn't directed them at me. And the startling thing was it seemed to me as if he had with his blunt honesty undressed all the fears I had cloaked from my own self. He had effectively laid bare all that I didn't want to see and even now was still unwilling to see. He had taken those fears and penetrated them with candid courage. He had made love not just physically to me but with the rigid complexity of my mind.

If only it was as astonishingly pleasurable to reveal what troubled my mind as it was when he was inside my body...

I smiled against his bare chest as we lay there on his shirt which provided a thin barrier against the dewy grass. I didn't mind the grass though. I liked its earthy smell. But I loved his scent so much better. Deep rich chocolate flavored with the tang of the salty sea air. And now deeply intermingled with my own scent...

I rubbed my nose against his neck as his fingers fondled my hair, gently sifting through my soft strands. It sent tendrils of tingly pleasure through my scalp...and to other newly awakened parts of me as well.

I stretched my bare body languidly where I had been snuggled against him. His...skilled fingers slowly pulled through my hair then skimmed down the curve of my torso and down to my hip as I propped myself up on my elbow to look at him.

"I don't want to come back down."

I wasn't referring to the downhill trek from the height of the mountainous terrain which we would have to sooner or later make. Hopefully later rather than sooner, though.

Judging by the look in his eyes, he knew what I was referring to. The way his dark chocolate eyes burned into mine as he lay there staring at me made me recall with vivid clarity the last few hours.

It had been everything I hadn't known to wish for...

* * *

"What do you want?" I heard the unspoken plea in his voice. And I knew he was not only asking me if I was merely thirsty...

"You. I want all of you." I said, not an iota of hesitation in my whisper.

I had seen the effect of my deliberate words on his face as they sunk in. Carefully he had placed his hand on the side of my face and brought his lips against mine.

Our lips fit together as if they were two corresponding parts of a whole. At the back of my mind, as he kissed me so slowly and tenderly, I needlessly wondered if we would fit in another way as perfectly.

Eagerly, almost impatiently I mewled against his lips. I fluttered the tip of my tongue against the seam of his soft warm lips and his mouth parted for me. The moment I started to stroke my tongue against his, he growled deep in his throat. That sound sent pangs of ecstasy straight to the core of me. I whimpered against his mouth.

He grasped my hips where I was sitting on his lap and he moved so swiftly that within less than the flutter of an eyelid, I found myself lying down, my back flattened on the damp grass as he hovered on his arms above me.

I reached up to slide his shirt off his shoulders, down his arms and away from him.

"Jane, are you sure?

"Yes, Seth. I want to...experience this with you..." _Before it's too late._ "I need you to be the first experience...the only one."

"You mean, you've never..." He gulped convulsively. You've never made love before?"

I shook my head shyly.

"Not...ever?" A hint of a smile played about his full lips.

"You're the only one who has ever touched me this way, Seth." I said unashamedly, proudly even.

"I'm so glad I waited for you." He said with firm conviction, reaching his hand to hotly glide his fingers down between my breasts and down to the juncture between my thighs. His heated fingers lightly grasped me there possessively. It felt as if the centre of me had a heartbeat, the way I pulsed inside just from the contact of his hand over my panties and dress. I could feel the heat from his skin seeping through the thin material. I longed to feel that heat _inside _me.

I squirmed on the dew wet grass, as his eyes held mine so compellingly.

Competing with the intoxicating sensation of his touch was this smug feeling of elation. I didn't expect to experience this fierce joy at his words. He was all mine just as much as I was his.

He moved his hot hand, gripping both of mine to pull me up quickly to stand with him. I faced him breathlessly as his gaze wandered over my body. He hooked his fingers under the thin straps of my dress, slowly sliding them off my shoulders. Our eyes were locked with each other and I never wanted to find the key. His hot gaze affected me just as much as the feel of his hands on me as he tugged the dress down, inch by inch. The soft material caught on my breasts briefly before releasing them. His hands tightened on the material as his knuckles brushed against me.

Then he continued to unclothe me, taking his sweet time as I stood there almost humming with anticipation. As he glided the dress past my hips, he knelt down on one knee before me. His soft hair brushed against my thighs as he dragged the dress down to my feet.

Then he raised his head and I felt his large hands grasp my hips...I felt his warm, rapid breaths falling against the front of my thin, lacy pantalets. For a fleeting second, I mentally thanked Alice. With her meddlesome, persistent intrusion, she had convinced me to switch from cotton to lace.

I placed my hands on his bare, broad shoulders, glancing down at him as he stared at me...

Through the revealing patches of lace.

A sudden self-awareness took ahold of me caused by the feeling of being so unfamiliarly exposed. I tried to take a step back from his blatant perusal, but his hands tightened on my hips.

"Don't move!" He growled hoarsely. I swallowed with apprehension as his long fingers clutched the bit of lace, almost tearing it from me but at the last second, his fingers relaxed.

I gasped as he buried his face between my thighs, rubbing his nose and mouth against my barely covered sex.

"You smell so fucking good." The timbre of his deep voice resonated against me where his face was so intimately pressed and I moaned from the intense feel of his skin against me.

He lifted his face, inhaling sharply. Swiftly but with utmost care, he slid the fragile undergarment down my legs. I stepped out of the puddle of clothing as he stood to tower over me.

He was still wearing his jeans and I made to remove them. I wanted him as naked as myself, right away. But he stepped back out of my reach, his eyes fixated on my bare body. I stepped toward him but he held up his hand, whispering,

"Wait, please Jane. Let me look at you."

Suddenly I didn't know what to do with my hands. I felt so awkward as I stood there completely nude, my back facing the stunning vista of the mountains and ocean. The salt tinged wind swirled my hair over and about me. To further my discomfort, the sun which had been hidden behind some clouds as he had undressed me, revealed itself again. And in turn, revealed my reflective iridescence. I fidgeted slightly as I stared down at the grass.

His sharp gasp made me lift my reluctant gaze to him though. And the expressions flitting across his gorgeous face resoundingly stripped away every ounce of discomfort and awkwardness that I felt.

He stared at me with such potent reverence...and desire. Stark, unclouded desire. My feet began moving before I was even aware of it and he didn't stop me this time as I walked to him, pressing myself against him.

He grabbed a handful of my wildly swirling hair as the strong wind blew around us, tilting my head back and kissing me thoroughly with undiluted ardor. I gripped his sinewy biceps as he continued his delightful invasion of my mouth. I rose on tip toe seeking to fit myself as intimately against him as I could. His corded thigh wedged its way between my legs and as we kissed frantically, I moved my hips against him, the abrasive material of his denim trousers only teasing the building ache in me.

He placed his hands on my ass, molding my cheeks there and intensifying the pleasure ache within me. His hands firmly lifted me and I intuitively wrapped my legs around his waist. He broke our kiss to stride to the spot where his shirt was strewn on the grass. Crouching down and still holding me tightly, he spread the shirt on the grass before depositing me on it.

He leaned over me, tenderly sweeping some strands of hair away from my face.

"You deserve the finest, most luxurious bed, candlelight and rose petals..."

"Those things can't compare to be being with you, here like this. There is nowhere I'd rather be than in this perfect spot with _you_. It's beautiful...you're beautiful."

His eyes lit up then and he smiled his wonderfully endearing grin. I glanced down at his jeans. Not fair how he was still clothed while I lay bare before him.

"I want you naked, Seth. I want to feel you against me." I said, biting my lips at my candor. But I couldn't censor this moment, the need rocketing through me was too strong to withhold anything.

With almost vampire speed, he divested himself of his clothes. I propped myself up on my elbows, my eyes curiously and admiringly staring at his sculpted nude body. He looked good in clothes but he was damned fantastic without them. I pressed my thighs together as I felt another wave of heat course through me. He stretched out beside me and the warmth of him against my cool skin caused me to shiver slightly.

Our contrast in temperatures had never felt more tantalizing.

The way he touched me then, so tenderly as if I might break touched my deadened heart as nothing ever had for two hundred years. He then began to explore my body slowly and passionately with his fingers, his mouth...

The only thought I could grasp within the building tempest of my unleashed desire, was that I wanted to touch him, too. To worship him with my lips and hands just as he was doing to me.

He grabbed my exploring hands roughly, holding them in a vise like grip above my head. His unexpected forcefulness sent another static like pang of pleasure rocketing through me and my hips moved against his taut thighs.

"Please, Seth...I want to touch you, too." I said breathlessly.

But he didn't release his firm grip. Instead he dipped his head to my breasts and the protest that I was about to make died on my lips.

I gasped when he slowly licked one rigid nipple before sucking the stimulated tip roughly into his hot mouth. I was dissolved in sensation, sinking into a pool of heated desire...

He released me then in his attentive concentration and my hands were free to explore just I was being explored. The sun grew hotter above us as our mouths duelled lasciviously and our hands fought for dominance to touch each other; it was a battle that we both won.

Our eyes unerringly found each other's as he loomed over me. Inch by velvet encased steel inch, he thrust into me and I felt the sharp pain as he changed me for all time...making me his. Just for him...

The brief ache of his needed invasion was nothing compared to the intense pleasure that followed. My hips bucked against him as he hesitated over me, breathing harshly.

"You feel so hot, Jane. So hot and soft...and wet." He panted softly at my ear and nipped the sensitive flesh there with a muffled growl.

I gasped from the feel of it, from the sound of his voice...

I could feel how wet he made me... _He was melting me from the inside out._..

I whimpered feeling myself clench around the solid wide length of him. He was stretching me as he lay in me, molding my slick channel to accommodate him.

"Did I hurt you?"

"No! No, you didn't." I said hastily, gripping his sculpted biceps. I wanted him to stroke me again. I didn't need him to hold back now...

"Seth...please..." I pleaded mindlessly as he throbbed within me. He groaned as he slid out almost all the way and then surged powerfully into me again, burying himself so deeply...then he did it again. Not even his blood could compare to this...

It literally felt like I was coming alive with each searing stroke. I cried out brokenly, distorted moans ripping from me instinctively as I gripped him tightly...with my legs and my contracting sheath. His husky groans echoed my own as he pounded into me, making my body weep with ecstasy... God, the way he held me as he pounded into me. His large hands were gripping underneath my hips, lifting them as he glided into me with deep, thrusting strokes. His hot body over mine was angled in such a way that I felt every hard surface of him against my sensitive inner walls...

The feel of him gliding against me like that was intensely overwhelming. It was almost too much. Too much pleasure that I never wanted to end. But he moved even faster in me...and my mouth opened in a silent scream as the electrifying pleasure intensified even more.

"Oh...God..." I moaned, my hands grasping frantically at his arms. As the pleasure rocketed through me and my entire body tightened, I had one coherent thought before my consciousness exploded to sweet oblivion. _We were made to love one another like this... _

I shattered around him, my eyes tightly shut, my fingers squeezing his muscled arms so hard...almost as hard as I squeezed him inside me.

As pieces of my consciousness floated back down to me, I felt his intensely powerful release as he flooded my moistness with his own wet heat ...I tilted my hips upward, relishing the feel of it.

"Oh fuck. Jane!" The way he hoarsely shouted my name irrepressibly made my inner muscles spasm again. He still throbbed so hard in me...and our bodies moved into a whole new rhythm again...

On that cliff side mountain we carried each other over and over again to new heights, not unlike the timeless motion of the ocean's waves that beat its own rhythm directly below us. As our passion peaked and crested repeatedly, we cemented our connection as two strong lovers who took and gave in equal measure...

Even though I had the potential to live forever, that still didn't seem like enough time for me to love him in all the ways that I possibly could.

* * *

Now as we lay in the aftermath of our tempest, even now after our prolonged and all-consuming bouts of lovemaking, my body still ached for his possession. I could go on and on...

And even as I stared into his eyes, I unwillingly pondered what the hell I was going to do.

I knew I shouldn't have encouraged him to love me like this. I _shouldn't _have loved him like this. I had a lot to lose either way...I could not renounce my powerful position in the Volturi to be with him...and when I returned to the Volturi, I couldn't conceive how I was going to go back to my existence without his presence in my life. Without his hot loving...

But I could never regret this, no matter the consequences. To think I had existed without this for so long...existed without him...

I cut off that train of thought. Before I forgot the whole purpose of my existence...

When I returned to Volterra, I would have all the time in the world to reaffirm my purpose. Why did the thought of that fill me with...dread and emptiness?

I broke the eye contact between us, looking out at the sky and ocean again as if I casually admired the view. But my wolf was not fooled. He grasped my chin tenderly, turning me to look at him again.

"Don't distance yourself from me..." He said, staring searchingly at my face.

"I'm not." I turned to him now, looking at him incredulously.

"Seth Clearwater, it will be the hardest thing for me to ever keep myself away from you now." It would be...soooo hard...

His eyes darkened and he reached for me...and I surrendered myself all too willingly to his ardent embrace.

* * *

The sound of his phone ringing intruded discordantly as we held each other silently afterwards. He reached over to snag his pants and slipped the annoying, beeping phone out of a pocket.

His brow raised. "Forty missed calls."

Hmm, we never even heard it ring before. I smiled widely.

"Throw it over the cliff."

He grinned at me. I grinned back irascibly, nipping the skin at his chest playfully with the edges of my teeth. Then not so playfully, my lips drifted to one of the two nubs on his chest. I smiled slowly as I recalled how good it felt when he lavished me with his tongue and I experimentally licked at him before suckling his rigid nub between my lips. He groaned loudly...and then we discovered that it was just as much fun when I was on top of things...

* * *

"You're insatiable..." He said to me, now.

"You weren't saying that a minute ago." I retorted impishly.

We were now dressed as we could not avoid returning to the reality of everything else. We were clothed in whatever we could find from the remnants of our garments after the strong winds had its way with them while we had been...preoccupied.

He didn't look bad at all. Whereas I was a hot mess! He was in his jeans, his back bare because I wore his shirt...and only his shirt. My dress had disappeared, most likely the flimsy material had drifted away somewhere and I had lost my cardigan a way back during our impulsive race into the forest.

We traipsed off hand in hand into the forest now. Going downhill into reality...ughhh. I looked back once at our spot. The picturesque area of soft grass carpeting the cliff looked completely undisturbed...showed no sign of our intense loving whatsoever. It was as if we had never been there.

Seth observed me as I glanced back.

"We'll be back." He said self assuredly. I composed my face carefully and forced a smile as I nodded.

We started off at a regular human pace. We could have used inhuman speed, but both of us were mutually reluctant to return that fast.

Besides it gave me a chance to really enjoy the forest. I found myself within the past days becoming more and more enamored of this vast, thriving ecosystem. The vivid colours of the green foliage, the ranging hues of the wild flowers and the dusty browns of the towering tree trunks engaged my vampire senses. I even liked the rough texture of the sturdy trees, the soft, velvety feel of the exotic plants and fragile flowers. The varied sounds the forest creatures emitted made me feel to hunt them...only to capture them briefly to observe them out of curiosity before releasing them back into their natural habitat. They deserved to be free...

I released my grip on Seth's warm hand to dart off towards a bank of exotic flowers I hadn't noticed before. Seth smiled at me indulgently as I crouched down to feel the almost transparent petals with just the lightest touch of my fingertip. He was accustomed to my impulsive curiosity from our previous treks into the forest. Not that I had spent that much time observing my surroundings, not when the pull of his blood had been at the forefront of my mind.

But now, _this _new aspect to our unique relationship was proving to be the true addiction...

Even when not moving at an inhuman pace, we still came closer to the Cullens all too soon. I glanced down at my attire critically.

"Maybe I could go through the window, Seth."

He grinned down at me, his eyes slowly roving over me. I could almost feel the heat of his thorough gaze. I squeezed his arm, whispering throatily, "Stop it..."

"Stop what?" His voice was extra husky.

"Stop staring at me like that...or we'll be delayed."

"That sounds like a great idea..."

"Seth..." I said plaintively."How am I going to go in there looking like this!"

The clearing leading to the Cullens' home was visible now. That big brute Emmett would say something completely asinine. And I would get annoyed...

"I'm going to make a run for the window..." I said desperately. I made to move into a sprint but Seth caught my hand gruffly.

"Wait! There're other vampires there...I don't recognize their scents."

I froze as I scented the air now. I sensed about five of them. But they weren't familiar to me either. Not Volturi.

Seth stalked determinedly forward then, gripping my hand tightly, his jaw set as he moved fast, furiously towards the house now. I couldn't understand his sudden aggression. The look in his dark eyes indicated he wanted to demolish whoever they were. Then I realized...he thought it was the Volturi.

Before I could enlighten him, he had already emerged onto the clearing that led up the immaculately kept path to the Cullens' abode.

The Cullens and their visitors were on the porch and they turned to face us at our approach. Seth came to an abrupt halt as he realized his error. I stood beside him, watching the Cullens' visitors warily. I immediately recognized the faces of the Denali coven, and the nomad, Garreth.

And by the looks of hatred on the two blond sisters' faces, they knew who I was at once.


	28. Chapter 28

**Author's Note: Hey guys, sorry for taking so long to update...life is becoming a bit hectic for me now so I might update just a teeny bit slower than before. This is a short chapter but there are a lot of good stuff to come after : )  
**

**P.S. Any similarity to any material outside the sphere of twilight is purely unintentional and coincidental.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own twilight**

**Chapter 28**

**Seth**

Another complication again. Cautiously I observed the seething expressions of animosity engulfing the Denali sisters' faces. With the smallest step, trying not to appear too noticeable, I shifted myself fractionally in front of Jane.

"What is _she_ doing here?" One of them whispered. Their gazes were pinned on Jane's face. I recognized the group of vampires from the time when Carlisle had amassed witnesses to provide evidence to the Volturi of Renesmee's half human, half immortal nature.

"Are the others here as well?" The other sister asked.

"Jane is here by herself...she's a...guest of ours." Carlisle said.

The dark haired vampire couple, Eleazar and Carmen together with the Denali sisters gasped simultaneously.

"I can't believe they sent her here by herself." Eleazar said. His wondering words had the effect of a pistol shot signalling a bunch of blood-hungry soldiers for a full frontal attack. Or a couple of vampire sisters...Kate and Tanya glanced at each other. Looking carefully at them, I saw all the impending signals of aggression and violence. One of them had a hostile sneer plastered on her mouth as she hissed between her teeth and the other one clenched her fists with a cracking sound.

"Kate, don't!" Edward said harshly.

But she was already flying down the steps, her sister following closely behind her.

"Seth, stay out of the way." Jane whispered quickly.

"I can't do that." I murmured back at her.

I placed myself solidly in front of her focusing my concentration on the blurring figures of the enraged sisters.

The one called Kate reached menacingly for her and I pushed her away gruffly. She stumbled back but wasn't deterred. Her other sister came to stand beside her, facing us as Kate attempted to lunge at Jane again.

"Get out of the way, wolf. This is between her and me." Kate snapped.

"I don't want to hurt you..." Jane said hesitantly.

Kate responded with another virulent hiss, pushing against me in her attempt to get at Jane.

Static like shocks of agony pulsed through me and it almost made me collapse on the ground. Yet through sheer will fuelled by my desperation to prevent her from reaching Jane, I managed to remain standing.

"Kate...stop. We'll leave." I heard Tanya telling her as I gritted my teeth, using most of my strength to hold her off.

Then the pain disappeared.

And Kate was sprawled flat on the ground several feet away from us.

Jane stood before me, glaring at her with chilling menace."_Don't_ touch him!" Her light voice echoed like wind chimes in the silent clearing.

She looked so tiny there, standing in front of me dwarfed in my shirt. It was hard to believe that she'd shoved Kate away using physical strength only.

Emmett's deep chuckle broke the encroaching silence. "That was pretty bad-ass." he said beneath his breath.

Tanya and the others were helping her sister up yet Jane still continued to stare at her though it was obvious that she wasn't using her power.

The other vampire with them Garreth, glared at Jane as well and he took an ominous step toward her.

"I wouldn't." I growled at him.

Jane turned her lethal gaze on him.

"Don't make me use my power now...I'm barely holding back." She muttered tonelessly.

Carlisle placed his hand on Garreth's arm, cautioning him to stay back. Advice he wisely heeded.

Jane was taking deep breaths now and then she determinedly turned away, grasping my arm.

The dark haired couple, Eleazar and Carmen gazed curiously at us.

"What abomination is this?" Eleazar whispered. His eyes looked over us with an unnerving, all encompassing scrutiny, not one detail of our ruffled appearance escaping his hawk like observation.

Suddenly I was aware of our appearance now. My chest was bare and that wasn't a novelty in itself...to the Cullens. And my sweet Jane was clad in a smudged shirt that looked as if it were at least five times her size...it was obvious to anyone who looked at her that the shirt belonged to me. And what was made even more apparent by these little details was exactly what we had been up to for the last few hours.

It was not the ideal way I would have liked us to appear, most especially Jane and especially in front of the discerning eyes of these other vampires. Still, the Denali vampire's whispered comment made my jaw clench. Who in the hell did he think he was just to judge us in one glance? I solidly placed myself in front of Jane, blocking their perusal of her. She gripped the top edge of my jeans, willingly standing behind me now.

"Please, everyone, let's make ourselves comfortable inside where we can talk." Carlisle said tactfully.

"I'm not coming into your house until you tell me what she's doing here and why you are obviously supporting her." Kate said acidly.

"And why is a Quileute wolf defending her?" Tanya exclaimed, glancing at me.

"Please come on inside, let us explain." Esme said in that pacifying manner of hers.

"We have always been supportive of you Carlisle and Esme but this is too much. We can't feel welcomed by you when you have been consorting with the likes of her." Tanya said. "I'm sorry but we're leaving."

Eleazar and Carmen looked at each other.

"Please darlings, let us allow Carlisle to explain everything. There's no harm in doing that." Carmen said.

"Kate.." Garreth looked at her questioningly as they hesitated. She nodded gruffly.

"Very well."

Carlisle gestured for them to follow him and with one last glare at me and Jane where she was behind me, Kate and the others followed Carlisle and Esme into the house.

From somewhere at the side of the house, Alice and Bella emerged.

"Jane.." Bella said softly.

She peeked out from behind me.

"Come with us, this way..." Alice added.

Jane started to move forward then she stopped and looked at me.

"You'll be right here?" She asked.

"Actually I'm going to head on home to refresh myself."

"Of course." She said as if she berated herself for not thinking of that.

"I'll be back as soon as I can." I added, smiling down at her.

She touched my face and I grasped her fingers, kissing them gently. I wasn't aware of how much seconds...or minutes passed as her eyes ensnared mine.

"C'mon you two...cut it out." Alice groaned. Bella chuckled lightly and I watched as a flood of pink suffused Jane's smooth cheeks. _Amazing_ to see what my blood had done to her...

Slowly she reclaimed her hand, our hands tightening together briefly before she went off with Bella and Alice.

She looked back at me as they went around to the back entrance. I waited until she disappeared from my sight before running off into the forest.

* * *

I ran through the woods mostly on autopilot. My mind was still lost somewhere on a certain cliff overlooking the ocean. I could still feel her silky alabaster skin beneath my hands. The scent of her still clung to me...making me want to go back for her, go back and steal away with her somewhere... where we could savour each other with no regard for the demands of time and place.

And unwanted intrusions.

I hated that this significant moment between us was potentially made known to others. Something so beautiful should be completely private. And it also went against everything in me to leave her at the Cullens with the Denali coven there. They had made no secret of their intense hate for her. But I knew my Jane was more than capable of defending herself. I couldn't help but feel proud of her. Just now she could have easily used her power against the Denali vampire but she had held back. Even when confronted with hostility, she had held back. She believed herself to be so unchangeable when she just needed to give herself a chance.

I solidly believed I had a good chance of convincing her to stay with me. There were so many things I wanted to show her, that I wanted to experience with her...if we could tear ourselves away from each other long enough.

I grinned to myself.

I made a quick detour to the beach where my birthday party took place last night, deciding to collect the car where I'd left it parked. Not that I really needed to use it. I was running more speedily than ever, as fast as a vampire, in my human form. It was mind boggling to be able to move at such speed without phasing to my wolf. I chose to chalk it up to yet another benefit of being able to take care of her now. Though I was all too aware that she could defend herself, my new strength and speed provided extra defenses against any threat against her.

Abruptly slowing down my furious speed, I loped out of the forest now, heading to the spot where I left the car.

Just a little away from the car, Paul, Embry and Jared were on the beach. It almost looked as if they were waiting for me.

I fished the keys from my pocket, jogging up to the car.

"Hey guys." I said casually, intending to make my greeting brief and drive home quickly.

"Heyyyyyy...you look like you didn't get any sleep." Jared replied, eyeing me speculatively.

"Way to leave your own party last night." Embry said jokingly. I chuckled a bit, ignoring their indirect prying.

Paul was weirdly silent as he regarded me. He had folded his arms, staring at me hard.

"I'll see you guys later. I'm headed home now."

I started to open the door when Paul laughed in this sneering tone. "So, you not gonna tell us what vampire pussy feels like?" He made this disgusted sound at the back of his throat.

I froze in the act of getting into the car. My hand squeezed the door handle convulsively.

The chrome material crumpled under my hard grip.

"I bet you about froze your balls off in there." Paul laughed breezily. Embry was mumbling something like cool it to him.

With a movement that was so fast I blurred, I turned and my clenched fist connected with Paul's nose with a sickening, resounding crunch. Blood, bits of cartilage and spittle flew out from his face as he was catapulted a few feet away from me. Embry and Jared stared at me then Paul then back at me again with wide eyes, their forms still with shock.

Paul lay on the sand for a moment then he began to sit up slowly. I growled, stalking toward him, my fists tightening reflexively. A red film was beginning to cloud my vision as all I could comprehend now was the compelling, driving need to tear him limb from limb.

I had almost reached him when Jared and Embry moved out from their shocked stances, rushing up to grip each of my arms. With a hefty shrug of my shoulders, I tossed them off me, barely registering the sound of their bodies hitting the sand.

Paul haltingly stood up to face me and I could see his form shuddering to make the change but my fist was faster. He sagged to the ground, his face beginning to resemble a bloody pulp.

"C'mon Seth, calm down! You could really hurt him and we can't phase here! There're too many people on the beach..." Embry's voice was a faint noise on the edges of my rage.

"We can't stop him unless we phase man." Jared said in a panic.

I stood there, breathing harshly and fighting my rage vehemently. I still felt the instinctive drive to beat him into nothing in the sand...

Abruptly I turned away, stalking past Embry and Jared as they darted out of the way to let me pass and slamming myself into the car. I quickly turned on the ignition. The tires screeched loudly as I made a swift u-turn and sped out of there.

The drive home eased the burning rage down a little. I shouldn't have let Paul get to me like that. But his comments had been past the boundary for me, totally disrespectful and unnecessary. Still, Paul being Paul, I should have just walked away.

His vile comments resounded sickeningly in my head again.

Nah.

I didn't regret it one bit. Pummeling his face into a pizza. It was long over due.

But I never had any sort of conflict before with my packmates and my slip in control rankled me more than anything else.

I strode through the living room now where Leah sat talking on the phone. She looked up as I passed, moving the phone from her ear and clamping her hand over it.

"Hey..."

"Not now." I said abruptly, going into my room and slamming the door shut. My phone rang again. Placing it carefully down, I resisted the impulse to toss it out the window.

I smiled as I remembered Jane's suggestion to throw it over the cliff.

Then my mind drifted to other things...like the way she had defended me against that Denali vampire. With her bare hands, wearing my shirt with _nothing else at all, _and with blazing cold anger on my behalf suffusing her angelic face. So fucking sexy...

Then the vision of her standing naked before me teased my mind now, her porcelain skin gleaming as if she wore the finest, diamond dusted cream. The way her pale pink nipples had been so pointed ...and firm on my tongue. The breathless, impulsive sounds she made at the back of her throat when I touched her. That really, really hot light covering of pale, downy hair that adorned her. And her scent...that beguiling peaches and cloves scent that taste so divine on my tongue...

I needed that ice cold shower now...

* * *

Santiago's voice sounded grimly over the mobile that Aro clutched tightly in his hand. He barely held himself back from crushing the device.

"She...what?!"

"I just thought you should know, master."

Aro's blood red eyes were wide, his mouth set in a grim line in the privacy of his chamber.

"Return to Volterra at once." His voice resonated with cold menace that bespoke no toleration for questions."I must see this for myself to believe it."


	29. Chapter 29

**Author's Note: Thank you for your reviews, loves : ) **

**Disclaimer: I don't own twilight**

Chapter 29

Jane

I stood in front of the large window blankly staring at my reflection in the pristine glass. I was outfitted in yet another Alice contraption, this time a fluttery pastel yellow dress that skimmed just above my knees with a sleeveless design that left my arms bare. My mind had been too preoccupied to really be irritated about standing in as her mannequin once again.

I was trying my best to tune out the steady, grave voices of Carlisle and the Denali coven downstairs. I just got a vague gist that he was explaining to them that I was no threat.

Their conversation blurred out of my mind like so much static as I concentrated on my own personal dilemma.

I glided my hands slowly down my skin. My fingers trailed a path down my face, my chest, my breasts over the stretchy cloth, vainly seeking to emulate the way he'd touched me. I thought that the most major change in all my existence would have been my shocking transformation into a vampire, into the Volturi. But here I was, two hundred years later, experiencing another change again. Not such a wildly supernatural change from human to vampire but something just as powerful in its own right.

A change of heart.

A change from being completely dispassionate to feeling such an influx of all-consuming emotions. A change that was far more pleasurable to feel compared to the brief spurts of twisted elation I used to feel when implementing my power.

These changes I felt now could be life changing...if I allowed them to be.

I knew I couldn't go back to my cold, clinical, emotionless existence as easily as I had thought. Not after having experienced being with Seth.

But if it weren't for Aro, I would not be here right now to experience this with him.

That I'd lived this long without knowing this kind of love was in itself a real tragedy. But the question was, could I so boldly claim this happily ever after? And would this be happily ever after for him? Didn't he deserve better than what he could have with me? Resoundingly yes. He deserved so much better...

Then there was the fact that Aro would not let me go. I was beholden to an ancient vow but that was just a shell for the true fact that I was actually beholden to serve Aro for all time. This was a conundrum that I had no readily available solution to nor did I see any forthcoming in the foreseeable future. I had been actually tempted to ask Alice but I was too afraid of what she might have said.

Suddenly I felt the pressing need to just talk to someone about my worries. Someone besides Seth who would seek any way to reassure me. Someone who would offer sound, unbiased opinions on the best course of action to take.

Strangely Bella was the one I thought of. There was no longer any antagonism between us and in the past few days we had actually commiserated about being Alice's 'dolls' for her fashion exploits. Besides that, I sensed she wanted to impart her opinion on my relationship with Seth but held back, not wanting to pry. And I wholeheartedly agreed with her no interference policy. But right now, I just needed someone to talk to.

The door opened slightly. I turned, not really surprised to see Bella peeking through.

"I guess Edward's mind reading ability really becomes useful at times." I said wryly.

She smiled slightly.

"Do you want to...talk about it?"

I hesitated for a few moments, mostly because I wanted to say no if only not to appear so vulnerable. Yet I found myself nodding affirmatively.

"Yes. Yes I do."

* * *

We walked out to the back of the house, avoiding the living area where the Denali coven still lingered. In companionable silence, we made our way a little distance into the forest. Bella came to a stop and turned to me.

"No one should be able to hear us out here."

I took a deep breath, not sure where to start. I was so accustomed to sounding all my thoughts to myself...and Seth to an extent. Relaying them to some-one else was strange and more than a little awkward for me. Especially when that someone happened to be my ex-nemesis.

"Okay." I had adopted this phrase a bit too easily in my time here. "I'm not sure I want to continue with the Volturi. I know it may sound impossible to you...but I like it here...well the forest and the relaxed pace of things. At least, I want to take an extended leave from Volterra but Aro...he...he'll never allow me."

Bella looked at me, nodding encouragingly. "Have you told Seth you felt like this?"

"Not yet. I whispered. "I want to make sure that I could...stay with him before I tell him."

"But there's no way to make sure of that...not until you confront Aro."

"That's just it...he won't listen. He'll make Chelsea force me to stay with the Volturi. And if we run away, he'll send Demetri after us...and even if I stay here and await them, it will come to a battle. I can't...I can't think of Seth getting hurt, Bella."

"You love him." She said smiling.

"Yes." I whispered.

I loved him. I loved his warmth, that deep warmth inside him that could not be extinguished by the complications I had introduced to his life. I loved his strength. That inner strength he possessed to successfully soothe an ancient, evil, broken vampire. He had heart enough for the both of us. I was a long way from being whole again yet I believed with him I could really move forward from that horrible day so long ago. And I thought maybe my love for him was just as strong as the imprint connection he felt towards me. As vampires, our very nature was to remain frozen in the emotions that suffused us when we had been changed. But he had done quite some work on my emotions, changing my entire perspective on many things that I thought would remain embedded in me forever.

Bella appeared to be mulling over something as she bit her nail distractedly.

"I'm going to tell you something. I probably shouldn't but I'll tell you anyway."

I stared at her curiously awaiting what she had to say as she paused a bit.

"Alice had a vision while you were in the forest with Seth before you came here. She saw Aro and the Volturi coming here to get you back and when Aro threatened Seth, you...you crippled Aro with your power..."

My mouth slowly opened and closed. I couldn't even imagine such a scenario.

"Also, Edward is able to read your mind again. We know why you came here."

Suddenly I couldn't look at her.

"I have no intention of doing that again...I wouldn't hurt him in that way." I whispered staring at the ferny undergrowth at my feet.

"Not that we would have allowed you to either." Bella said firmly.

I looked up at her. And nodded in agreement. I was glad Seth had such good friends as them. We were now on the same page where not hurting him was concerned at the very least.

"So how long did you know of my plans?" I asked.

"Oh, a little while now."

"I wonder how Edward got past my defenses though." I mused aloud.

"I don't think your mind could have sustained whatever defenses you concocted after you started getting...distracted." She grinned irrepressibly.

I laughed a little. And I thought Seth had better control his thoughts around her spouse so that they wouldn't be aware of just how distracted I had gotten.

"I'm glad you're finally seeing that you deserve a life outside of Volterra. I know the past can't be undone but everyone deserves a second chance." Bella said softly.

"Thank you. For saying that." I glanced in the direction of the house now.

"Too bad others won't forgive so easily..." I added.

"They just have to get to know the new you."She said generously.

I shook my head disbelievingly. "If only it were that easy."

"What about your brother, Alec? Aren't you two very close?"

"Yes we are. We have always depended on each other...both in our human life and this immortal one..."

Bella looked at me expectantly as if willing me to elaborate further. But I left it at that. Rehashing our beginnings was not something that I readily went into. Seth had been the only one to coax me to reveal such in depth detail of our history. All these years in Volterra, Alec and I had studiously avoided speaking of the past and I had never even discussed it with Aro.

"So how would he react to you leaving the Volturi and being in love with Seth?"

I sighed. "I know it wouldn't be good. I'll have to face Alec when that time comes. But my main concern is Aro...and Caius."

I closed my eyes shut tightly. "What am I going to do?"

"We'll think of something...all of us will help you. It's time Aro knows that he can't dictate how someone should live their life."

"But Bella, with Chelsea's power he can make you feel as if you need to stay there, make you feel as if serving him is everything you ever wanted. And besides Alec and myself, Aro's never coveted any other power more than yours. And Alice's. Which you are already aware of."

"But her power will not affect you Jane. It has no effect on the bond between true mates..."

I frowned slightly. I had not even been knowledgeable of such a thing.

"How do you know that?"

"Because when I was in Volterra, while I was still human, she couldn't break the bond between Edward and I. Edward told me she had tried to numb our feelings for each other but our bond was too strong to sever."

I pressed my lips together. I almost blurted that I would do everything to prevent Seth from confronting Aro, Alec and the others. I would not be able to prevent all of them from...hurting him. I shuddered slightly at the prospect of him facing them.

"I appreciate your offer of helping us confront the Volturi but I'm sure your family wouldn't want to jeopardize themselves like that...for me. And I wouldn't ask that of any of you."

"It's not just about that, it's also about protecting our way of life. You said yourself that Aro wants Alice and me to join the Volturi. It's only a matter of time before he seeks another reason to descend on us again. We need to show him once and for all that he cannot break our family apart ."

I shook my head sadly. The strange thing was that I fully agreed with everything she said. Who would have thought?

I had always considered Aro as somewhat of a father to me, I had based my whole life on his whims and wishes. I had never done anything in my existence for my sole pleasure. I thought I used to experience pleasure when using my power but I knew that was a far cry from what I now knew to be true pleasure. Pleasure so good as to make one cry with tears of joy...

I abruptly halted the direction in which my mind was drifting...

It was approaching a month since I'd been here and within that short window of time, I had come to see that life in Volterra was not the ultimate life there was.

"Something has been pulling at my curiosity a bit. It's just that you seem to have no experience with pretending to be human." Bella said.

"I don't. I have never had to hide the fact that I'm a vampire in Volterra."

"Then... how did you come here? I mean, you didn't run or swim here, did you?" Bella asked with a chuckle, her brow raised.

I giggled.

"Of course not. Aro has human contacts all over the world. I arrived here on a private jet and a contact directed me to Forks."

"Oh! Ok."

"Bella, can I ask you a really personal question?"

"Sure..."

"Well, what I wanted to ask...what I was curious to know...how do you ever stop wanting to make love all the time?"

"Why would you ever want to stop?" She grinned and I smiled a little. "Ok seriously, just enjoy your inhuman capability in this regard. You're forever young...forever strong with non-stop stamina...it's like a dream come true!"

We both dissolved into fits of giggles.

"You won't ever have to worry about getting pregnant...a true teenager's dream come true." She added.

I sobered a bit as I contemplated her statement.

"I'm sorry, perhaps I was a bit insensitive..."

I held up my hand. "No, no that's ok...I of all people am not really keen on having children even if I could. I'm still trying to get over my own childhood, even after two hundred years..."

Bella looked at me curiously and I forged on quickly before she asked questions about said childhood.

"But I will always wonder if children are something that he would have wanted...not that it would be unattainable for him. If I leave him to live the life he deserves, I would give him the opportunity to be truly happy, to find someone who could give him these things, someone who wouldn't ruin his life as I could."

"Jane, Seth would be miserable without you. From what I know of imprinting and that would be a lot since Jake imprinted on my daughter, a wolf cannot live without being close to his imprint. If you forsake him, it'd be like you were sentencing him to die."

"I don't believe that Bella. I think he would...he would go on without me. This might sound unbelievable to you but I really love him...enough to want the happy life for him that he wouldn't have with me."

"No! You don't know what you're saying at all."

I looked at her a bit strangely. Her brows were furrowed and she regarded me gravely. Somehow I got an inkling that what I said aggravated some long stored memory she had. She proceeded to confirm my guess had been right.

"Look, before I became a vampire, Edward...left me once. And it almost killed me. He had ...similar thoughts about me...he thought I would be able to move on, to live that 'happy life' without him. But it didn't happen that way. Don't be so caught up in your own views that you would unwittingly damage the one you love. It's obvious to everyone that you two belong together..."

"It'll be selfish of me to rob him of the life he deserves..."

"With you. Bella interrupted me emphatically. "The life he deserves with you. And contrary to what you might think, you do deserve to be happy, Jane."

I ducked my head briefly then looked at her again.

"Besides, you can't keep away from him, remember?" She did this weird wiggling of her brows. I thought she was attempting to be suggestive. It looked hilarious. We went into giggle mode again. It felt so good...to simply laugh like this...

"Bella?"

Both of us stopped laughing turning to see Edward standing just a few feet away, watching us disbelievingly. Bella strolled playfully to him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and reaching up to kiss him soundly on his mouth.

I smiled looking away into the trees as Edward pulled her closer.

* * *

We sped back to the house where the Denali coven was now taking their leave.

"We'll be just a phone call away, Carlisle. You'll let us know if our...support is needed." Eleazar said to Carlisle. He nodded gravely as they filed down the stairs past me where I stood with Bella and Edward before the patio.

Kate and Tanya glared down harshly at me as they passed me by. I avoided meeting their gazes but I certainly felt the animosity pouring off them in waves. I sighed softly as they disappeared into the forest.

As I made my way into the living area, Emmett looked up at me from where he was sprawled on the sofa. He grinned irascibly. Oh no...

"Hey where were you guys? He looked at the three of us speculatively. "That must have been some influence Seth had on you...you're progressing from twos to threes already?"

"Emmett...please." Bella snapped, rolling her eyes.

"What is that even supposed to mean?" I asked.

"She didn't catch that?" Emmett said in an awe-struck manner.

I glanced at him exasperatedly, folding my arms.

The big brute stared at me as if he were trying to solve a puzzle. "Hmm..."

Then he started singing in this ridiculously whiny voice,"Like a virgin...touched for the very first time..."

My mouth dropped open. He would dare antagonize me about this? How in the world would he even know?

"He...doesn't. He's just being his usual, jack ass self." Edward whispered. I turned to him, nodding a bit and hiding my face behind my hair.

"So...it's true!" Emmett crowed.

"Em, leave her alone." Rosalie strolled into the room, shaking her head.

I felt warm blood suffuse my cheeks and that occurrence reminded me yet again of the changes I was beginning to experience. I didn't know what to make of it.

"Where's Carlisle?" I whispered to Bella.

"He's upstairs in his study." She was still glaring at Emmett.

"I need to talk to him about something..."

* * *

I knocked somewhat timidly on the door of Carlisle's study. It still seemed a bit surreal, the way I casually maneuvered my way around their house given the manner in which I had arrived here.

"Come in." He said kindly.

I slipped past the door, pausing there hesitantly.

"Please Jane, have a seat. What is it you wanted to talk about?"

I slowly walked over and seated myself in one of the plush chairs facing his desk.

"I've been experiencing some things...well it doesn't appear to be the normal thing for our kind..."

"What kind of things?"

"Well besides my eyes... I shrugged. "I'm beginning to feel as if blood is coursing throughout my body now...as it would in a human...this is beginning to reveal itself in the form of blood rushing to my cheeks...I blush as a normal human would..." I could not explain to him how I had felt blood rushing to other parts of me as well...when Seth and I...

I lowered my head, hiding my burning face. These human like characteristics were beginning to become supremely annoying.

Now I proceeded to tell him of another human trait I was developing that wasn't so personal.

"And I can...cry now."

"Cry?"

"Yes. I can shed actual tears."

He studied me making a steeple of his fingers beneath his chin.

"This is amazing. And unfortunately beyond the scope of my expertise. Human traits in themselves we are so accustomed to taking for granted yet in your case, or even if these startling developments were to take place in any vampire, it becomes so extraordinary."

"What if I'm becoming human now...what if I'm losing my immortality?"

Carlisle shook his head, deep in thought.

"I don't think so."

"Then what's your theory on this?"

He looked at me then.

"It's difficult for me to wildly pin point why you are experiencing this. Besides the fact that Seth's blood has affected you this way, I cannot determine why you would re-humanize like this. Unless..."

He paused then, deep in thought again.

"Unless what?" I prompted.

He shook his head slightly.

"I really can't say."

I felt like he decided not to tell me of his theory because he was wary of the way I might react.

"It's ok, Carlisle..you can tell me. I won't get...angry or anything like that."

He looked at the door.

"Seth's here." He said in a matter of fact way.

There was a light knock on the door before I could continue with my query.

"Come in." Carlisle said softly as I impulsively turned to face the door in my seat.

Seth opened the door, his eyes finding mine at once. I couldn't help my gaze roaming from the top of his silky ebony hair (and I knew just how soft his short strands felt between my fingers), to his gleaming, dark shoes. I loved the way those shirts he wore fit his broad shoulders and hinted at the sculpted musculature of his arms. He wore a deep red colour this time and it looked so sensual against his copper skin. He'd left the first few buttons loose...

His long, lean legs were lovingly encased in dark denim. He definitely knew how to clean up nice. Actually nice was an understatement.

He walked to me then he bent towards me until his face was level with mine and grasped my chin.

Our eyes locked as he whispered, "You look beautiful."

Then he kissed me softly on my lips before taking the other seat next to me.

He continued to stare at me, grinning a bit mischievously. I felt the wide, silly grin stretch my lips in response.

"So Seth, you've been going through changes as well. Yours might be just a bit easier to surmise."

I forced myself to turn to Carlisle now, trying to gather my scattered wits from the feel of his lips on mine.

"Uh, yeah." He said distractedly. I smiled again.

"What I think you are experiencing are custom characteristics of a vampire. Much in the same way Jane's venom has altered your dna to a vampire's chromosomal count, the venom could have also affected your hormonal level as well. We vampires are by our nature very territorial and possessive of our mates and that could explain your recent aggression. Coupled with the natural inclination of your wolf genes to protect your imprint, it could seriously mess with your control. Have you had trouble with phasing recently?"

Seth glanced at me a bit guiltily. I reached over and squeezed his hand reassuringly.

"Yes..I did. But I..we managed to control it."

"I see. I wonder if these changes will affect your ability to phase? It's something you will have to monitor."

"So...there's a possibility that I can lose my ability to ...phase?"

"We simply can't know such a thing. I have never encountered such a baffling occurrence like this in all my years as a vampire."

Seth sighed quietly. I hated that my rabid thirst had affected him like this. Made him go through all these unwanted, confusing changes. He would have been so much better off if I had never come here..

"I'm so sorry Seth." I whispered.

He turned to me quickly.

"No, Jane this is not your fault. It's ok..."

"Please, don't tell me it's ok! I interrupted him a bit more harshly than I really intended to. "Because it's not. I'm ruining your life!"

My eyes pricked a little and those damned tears started again. Carlisle gasped in astonishment.

"This is amazing." He whispered in awe.

Seth grabbed me hugging me to him as I buried my face on his shoulder.

"You are my life." Seth said, his lips moving against my ear.

"Don't say that!" I mumbled, my voice sounding muffled as my mouth was pressed onto his chest. I couldn't help breathing him in a little. The thirst tugged at me again yet I resolutely held my breath. I was becoming extremely disgusted with myself. Here he was comforting me after I had affected his life so negatively and all I could think about was drinking his blood. He was so much more than that to me now.

I thought if there was some possible way to numb the power of the imprint connection, I would do it. Then he could truly see me for the monster I was. The monster by all natural laws that he should want to destroy.

Despite my thoughts, I felt a rampant need for him to possess me again...his hard body close to mine was stirring me, making me grow damp...

I tore myself away from him. I didn't want his beguiling scent or his virile body to tempt me any further nor did I want him to hold me, to comfort me as if I deserved any of that.

"Jane..."

I shot up from my seat and he stood up as well, a perplexed frown on his handsome face as he stared down at me. He reached for me but I held up my hand.

"Don't. Please." I said then I rushed to the door. I heard him coming after me.

"Please don't follow me!" I huffed a bit.

I closed the door behind me, leaning on it for a brief second before darting off to my room.

* * *

Volterra

24 hours later

Santiago strode determinedly past the inquisitive guards doing his utmost to stifle his burgeoning fear. It was a well known habit of Aro to impulsively destroy unfortunate individuals bearing bad news. And this wasn't merely bad news. This was sensitive...information about one of his most revered members.

He fervently wished that he hadn't seen such an eyeful. But he had. And he had to inform Aro right away despite his rightfully cautious fear.

The heavy doors swung open before him and he could see Aro, Marcus and Caius now where they sat awaiting his arrival.

The top rank of guards inclusive of Alec, Felix, Demetri, Chelsea and Renata stood before the raised dais, flanking the unnaturally still principalities of the Volturi.

He could feel their eyes assessing him curiously as well but that was not on the forefront of his mind. He was solely focused on relaying this...news as quickly as possible to Aro...and hopefully surviving beyond that.

The usual joie de vivre marking Aro's ancient face was missing in his starkly staid expression. He didn't wait for Santiago to reach him. He flew down the dais, grasping Santiago's hand gruffly.

Then his blood red eyes widened and his mouth fell open.

Santiago knew exactly what he was seeing. The very same thing he spied just a mere twenty four hours earlier.

Aro's power used his mind as if it were a reel...he saw everything.

Jane all over that...creature. Willingly allowing him to touch her...to possess her. But their physical intimacy was not what riled Aro. That was nothing to him at all.

It was the manner in which she interacted with him. He heard every word she revealed about her life to him through Santiago's circumspect eavesdropping. He hadn't lived for thousands of years not to recognize blatant emotion when he saw it. And right then, he intuitively knew that Jane had grown to love the creature...

He had encountered this similar situation with Marcus and his sister. That had been the very crux for changing his sister in the first place because Marcus in his infatuation had revealed too much. He had witnessed for himself how their strong bond had made them wish to leave the Volturi, made them wish, however unintentionally, to weaken his empire.

This was so much worse. He would not lose his most talented member to a Quileute wolf!

"Jane, I trusted you!" Aro whispered harshly. He numbly dropped Santiago's hand and he turned away now.

Alec took a step toward Aro, a question already forming on his lips but with a solid hand on his shoulder, Felix stopped him from going further. He glanced at Felix with an irate glare before his ethereal voice echoed in the vast silence of the archaic chamber.

"Master, when will she be returning?"

Caius rose from his throne."Aro, what is it?"

Aro held up his hand, gesturing for silence.

He could have wagered his entire empire that she would not have ever become enamored of that wolf in this way. He had trusted her, the one vampire who had been so steadfast in her servitude to him, to remain detached, to not let anyone or anything threaten her loyalty to him, to Volterra.

He had even been glad when the Cullens had 'captured' her. That way, it had ensured an extra guarantee that she wouldn't kill the wolf knowing how they were so considerate of the Quileutes.

But her killing him proved to be the least of his worries. And to think he had been the one to facilitate this, had sent her there...almost sacrificing such a talent as hers.

"What have I done?" He whispered.


	30. Chapter 30

**Author's note: Awww, CatchingStar your review made me blush! Thank you so much!**

**I hadn't meant to take so long to update but every time I decided to work on a chapter, it seemed like there was something else that needed to be done. It's the same with reading and writing for me-once I start, I get really annoyed when I'm disturbed...oh well, here is this extra long chapter now to kinda make up for that... I'll try to update sooner. Things are going to get even more...interesting :)**

**P.S. Can anyone suggest a good title for this fanfic? I'd love to hear some ideas...**

**Disclaimer: Twilight doesn't belong to me**

**Chapter 30**

**Seth**

Even though she didn't want me to go after her, I still strode to the closed door, intending to yank it open and just hold her. But I forced myself to stop, placing my hand on the door. I bowed my head, closing my eyes briefly. I let out a deep breath turning to face Carlisle.

"It's a lot for anyone to take in, Seth." he said. Frankly, I'm stunned that you have managed to affect her in such a good way after so little time."

I nodded in acknowledgment of what he said, walking to the painting I spied now on the wall. It was a painting of three ancient vampires and Carlisle. I didn't have to ask him who they were. I knew.

I turned away quickly, my jaw clenching.

"I'm afraid that this is all too much for her to face...I'm afraid that she'll try to run. Run back to the Volturi." I said desolately. I touched my fingers agitatedly to my head.

"In any event, they will come here after her. Of that I am completely sure. I'm surprised that they haven't arrived already." Carlisle said.

"Carlisle, you and your family shouldn't have to face this again. Jane and I can go away from here...we can draw them away. I'm sure if I discuss this with Jane, she'll agree with me..."

"Endangering yourself that way wouldn't work. Aro is intent on acquiring Alice and Bella to the Volturi. He'll find a reason to come here, one way or the other."

He looked at me closely now."Do you think she'll...stand with us against the Volturi?" He asked, his voice intentionally even lower than a whisper. "We know what Alice saw but do you think she'll go even further than defending you...to stand with us as well?"

I hesitated, really thinking about it. She seemed so different toward everyone now compared to when she first arrived here, it was almost possible to believe that her thoughts had changed about the Cullens. But I could sense that she was still irrevocably beholden to the Volturi and I didn't really think her change of thoughts would be enough for her to actually stand with the Cullens.

"I can't say..." I said in defeat.

Carlisle nodded.

"I shouldn't have really asked you that...I just thought...But that is just too far fetched of an idea. She just seems like an entirely new person. Sorry for asking you something like that."

"I understand where you're coming from." It was killing me, not knowing how she would react to whatever new development came next...I raked my fingers through my hair, looking at the door again and wondering if she would let me near her now.

"I'm sure everything will be resolved in a good way." Carlisle said.

"I intend to make sure of that." I growled, my glance darting once again to that painting of the Volturi on the wall of Carlisle's study. He followed my gaze.

"Seth, approaching them with blunt aggression will only get you hurt...or worse." Jane had more or less said the same thing to me. Yet my rage couldn't reconcile with any sort of diplomacy when it came to the thought of them coming for her.

"I'd like to thank you so much, Carlisle. For letting her stay here...and for helping me...helping us like this."

"We were very glad to do so."

I nodded, taking my leave from the study.

"Seth."

I paused from going out the door looking back at Carlisle.

"Please don't do anything rash."

"I can't guarantee that, doc." I said almost sadly.

* * *

It had been the most difficult thing to head home and spend the entire night away from her. It was inconceivable how much I could miss being near her in the space of a few hours. Now it was early morning as I returned to the Cullens though I had intended to stay away a bit longer to give her some...space. But I unwittingly found myself gravitating to the pull of her presence.

I tentatively approached her room now. Lifting my hand to knock, I paused when I heard Alice's voice in there.

"...I can't see your future any more, Jane. I did see them coming here before but then that changed. It just keeps going back and forth, all the images are blurry, jumbled together. It reminds me of the way I can't see the wolves...and the fact that you can't make up your mind is not helping either."

I slowly backed away, not really wanting to intrude even though I really wanted to listen in further. What did she mean by she couldn't make up her mind?

"Seth, come in here." Her voice sounded really light, almost care-free now and I was relieved. I didn't want her to be continually worried.

I opened the door, pausing there as I glimpsed her standing before a long, large mirror assessing this cute little updo. She had on yet another fluttery short dress this one in a red and blue floral pattern with thin spaghetti straps that emphasized the gorgeous structure of her delicate collar bone. Her legs were enticingly bare from mid thigh down with her small feet encased in a pair of blue shoes with low heels.

It seemed to me that when she was made into a vampire she had been plucked at the peak if her ripening beauty...and I was fiercely glad to be the one to see how much she was blossoming...away from that bleak and dreary Volturi.

Though her eyes were on her hair, she seemed to be staring through the mirror, as if her mind was somewhere else. I leaned on the door frame simply looking at her.

"Take it down." I said referring to her pale blonde hair restrained in what I supposed was a stylish little knot.

Alice turned to look at me exasperatedly. "What is it with you guys always wanting the hair down. I just spent all of five minutes on that 'do and it stays put!"

I shook my head a little, chuckling softly. No way I was getting between Alice and her...machinations.

I held my hands up in defeat.

"Ok, ok. I'll be downstairs."

Jane turned around swiftly. Her golden eyes were wide as she looked at me apprehensively.

"Seth, please...will you stay?"

Alice quickly checked her wristwatch, saying quickly,

"Three down, two more to go. Excuse me, I have to run!" She practically flit from the room. I shifted out of the way as she breezed through the door.

I looked back at Jane. She was staring at me with this almost frightened look in her eyes. I strode to her, placing my hands on her delicate shoulders and staring down into her pretty heart shaped face.

"Of course. I'll always stay."

"I'm so sorry...for reacting that way before. I...I shouldn't have taken out my frustration on you..."

I placed a finger on her pouty lips and her words trailed off slowly.

"We'll figure this out together." I whispered to her. "How bad can it get?" I mostly meant that as a rhetorical question but she responded right away.

"Well..." She reached up on tip toes, reaching up to bend my head down to put her lips right by my ear. Her voice was at such a low decibel that it would be impossible for an average human to hear what she said and it would be impossible for a vampire to hear from another room. "I want to be with you every minute without stopping at all."

I swallowed convulsively. Of course I knew exactly what she meant but it did something to me to hear her articulate the words with such sultry confidence. "That bad, huh?" I managed to reply. Her hand was still cupped at the back of my bent head and she inhaled deeply, running her lips along my neck and tracing my ear with the tip of her tongue. I almost groaned aloud. Then I felt her small fingers wedge their way between our bodies where we stood so close and grasp my hardened bulge through my jeans.

"Behave." I whispered then bit my lip hard. I looked at her as she smiled a bit wickedly.

Her fingers began to caress me...fuck. I clamped my hand down over hers firmly.

"Jane..."

She gasped softly then, her eyes riveted to my lips. She reached up her hand to me and with one finger, she touched my lower lip. She held up her dainty index finger between us so that I saw the tip was coated with my blood. Then she slowly glided her finger into her own mouth and sucked gently, closing her eyes.

"Mmmm..."

My hands tightened reflexively on her perfect little hips. She was so damned sensual. I could scent her deep, sweet arousal now and it was quickly driving me to lose what semblance of control I desperately hung onto.

I couldn't trust myself to touch her now. Resolutely I stepped back, my hands sliding away from her. She made this little growl of frustration at the back of her throat. Fuck me, she was making it so hard for me to do the appropriate thing at the moment.

At this very moment I wanted to fit my hand right at the source of her beguiling scent, to feel the heat I knew I would find there. It was amazing how her smooth skin retained its refreshing chill and at the same time how she felt so warm between her thighs. And I could sense she would be wet as well...

I took a deep breath, clenching my fingers into tight fists. If I only touched her now, it would all be over. She took a step towards me and I forced myself to back up a step.

"Not here, baby." I whispered.

"Oh, I know that." She pointed to the bed with a pitiful look. "_That_ wouldn't survive us."

I looked at her seriously for a split second. Then I burst into laughter. She giggled, her slender hand going to her mouth.

"I'm taking you on a date." I said impulsively now. It would be good for us to get out of here a bit. I wanted to show her fun things, things I was sure she had never really experienced. For the past few days we had both been dealing with some heavy stuff. I spontaneously decided that we were going to have some serious _fun._

I grabbed her hand, slowly kissing her fingers. That tell tale pink colour tainted her cheeks as she glanced down at the floor. I grinned down at her. She seemed so innocent at times and I guess, in certain ways she was. Or had been... I smiled slowly then guided her to the door.

"Wait, you mean now? We're going out now?"

"There's no time like the present..." I quipped, tugging her hand a bit as she stood there staring at me speculatively. "C'mon."

"What are you planning?"

I grinned. "Nothing too sinister."

"Maybe I want to be a little sinister..." She muttered.

"Hmm, this is going to be fun." I said softly, looking down at her. I gestured for us to leave again and she allowed me to pull her toward the door.

"Where are we going?" She asked plaintively.

I smiled deviously. "You need a little discipline."

"Discipline?" She asked, her ethereal voice resonating with disbelief.

We flew down the stairs together. I leaned down to whisper at her ear.

"Yes. Discipline. You need to learn the discipline of simply having fun...relaxing...letting go."

"Isn't that an oxymoron?"

"Perhaps it is. One that suits you."

"I don't think it suits me at all!" She said emphatically, her pale pink lips starting to pout in that adorable way that was purely her.

"Really? Then tell me, what do you normally do for fun?"

Well...I read..."

I couldn't help my short laugh but I quickly placed my hand over my mouth, clearing my throat unnecessarily. She glared at me a little.

"That's...good. I enjoy a good mystery now and then. What else do you do?"

"I... She stopped herself from saying whatever it was she was about to. "Never mind..."

"C'mon, you can tell me."

"No Seth." She glanced at me soberly now. "Some things you're better off not knowing."

I wanted to prod her to tell me what she withheld but I forced myself not to. I pointed to the door.

"Alright. You. Me. And some fun. Let's go."

"Ooooohhh, the lovebirds are gonna have them some fun." Emmett strolled into the living area, rubbing his hands gleefully together.

"Ok...we're out." I said quickly, moving to the door now. Jane moved just as quickly beside me, also suddenly eager to leave. So, she was aware of Emmett's predilection for inappropriate teasing. I decided I didn't really want to know how she became aware of that. I doubted anything he said would rile me the wrong way though...unlike Paul. He had been deliberately nasty whereas Emmett was just a bit too playful sometimes.

"Hey, where are you headed?" Jake strolled through the trees onto the clearing as we descended the porch steps.

"I don't know..." I said distractedly looking at her as she shifted slightly behind me, burying her face into my back.

"You don't ...know? Ok, when will you be back?" He asked.

"Whenever..." I said breezily, guiding Jane to the car now. Jake stared at us as I buckled myself in. I looked over at her. She was quietly sitting there beside me, her face turned to me but her long pale lashes covered her eyes.

"Are you ok?"

She nodded quickly. She frowned slightly before looking at me.

"What is it?"

"It's...just amazing...how you smell so good to me. But your...friend, Jake...he smells...ughh."

I laughed, shaking my head and driving off now.

"That seatbelt isn't merely a seat accessory you know."

"You're not serious. I won't get hurt even if there was an accident." She said dismissively.

I knew she was right but that fact still didn't make me feel any less protective of her. It was just that she was so deceptively fragile looking. And despite her delicate looks, the way that she could defend herself, even defend me, made her even sexier to me.

"Are you going to tell me where we're going now." She asked as I hit the freeway.

"Nope..." I said, glancing at her as she sighed exasperatedly.

"What I can tell you, is that you're definitely going to have fun."

"We'll see." She said stubbornly. I didn't have to look at her to know she was pouting again. If I did, I'd be tempted to pull over and kiss that pout right off her lips. And once that started...

"At least my new eye colour makes it easier to be among...people." She grumbled lowly.

Her eyes had made the complete transformation from their blood red hue to that golden colour that was familiar with the Cullens. The superficial colour change didn't really matter to me. What was most significant to me was the reason behind the change...that she was no longer drinking human blood...and killing.

"I still look like a freak, don't I?"

"Yes, you do."

She hissed in surprise.

"Wait, you didn't let me finish! You look like a gorgeous, sexy freak. My freak..." I said softly. Her...appetite for me could be ascribed to a freakish level...not that I was complaining in the least.

Because I felt the exact same way about her. It felt so good to me, the fact that she had grown to want to be with me as much as I wanted to be with her. Nothing could ever measure up to that feeling...the feeling that she had gone from wanting to kill me to practically not wanting to keep her hands off me...

"Thanks!" She said, her voice rife with sarcasm. I grinned, placing one hand on her leg, trying to be contrite. I gulped as I kept the car steady, my fingers caressing her bare, smooth skin that was exposed by her short, swirly dress.

"Aren't you glad you didn't kill me? That day we first met." I asked jokingly.

"Hmm, I'm still trying to determine that."

I plastered a feigned look of hurt and I glanced at her. She was staring at me, her lower lip caught between her sharp, pretty teeth as she frowned at me. She placed her hand on my shoulder.

"I didn't mean that, Seth."

I broke out into a huge grin. "I know."

She shook her head, smiling now at my teasing.

We continued to banter playfully back and forth as I sped now into Seattle.

"We're going to Seattle?"

"Just a detour..."

I cruised carefully now throughout the avenues, heading to Pioneer Square where there were a variety of shops located. I should be able to get what I needed there.

"Not another boutique." She groaned as we entered a small one now. I shook my head at her reticence, quickly selecting the particular gear we needed.

"What are we ever going to need those for?"

"You'll see." I said, smiling as she bit her lip in consternation in her ongoing quest to figure out what I was planning. I knew she wouldn't have a clue, certain this was something she'd never experienced before. I looked down at the stuff in my hands. She would definitely need these, no way she could do what I planned in that little dress.

Next I led her to another shop, this one causing me to swallow a bit anxiously. How would she react? It was mostly just a whim of mine, a little fantasy if you will, to see her in one of that.

"Have you lost your mind?"

"Uh...no. It's no big deal, Jane. It's totally up to you if you want to...get one of these."

She looked at me then looked at the stack of swimwear before us. Tentatively I selected a red one that caught my eye.

I glanced at it quickly and smiled slowly. From what I could see of it in its clear plastic packaging, it was a tiny little piece of a bikini.

"We'll take this one." I said without thinking. Jane glared at me and I added quickly, "We will won't we?"

I tried to convey my most sad face but my lips only kept curling into this ridiculous grin. Jane simply stared at me in exasperation. Then the corners of her mouth curled up slightly as she grabbed the bikini out of my grasp. She was definitely up to something. I sobered immediately, wondering what she was thinking.

"I would like to try it on first." She said.

"Of course, right this way..." The hovering shop assistant directed her to the back of the store.

"I'll wait right here." I said. I would see how it looked when we were completely alone...

She turned to me, smiling sweetly.

"Oh no, you won't. You're coming in with me."

My eyes bugged out of my head a little. The poor shop lady glanced from Jane to me then back again.

"Besides I want your opinion...on how it fits."

"Uh ma'am, he doesn't need to go into the dressing room with you. If you require any help, I'll be glad to assist."

"She'll help you." I said encouragingly. What on earth was she trying to do to me?

"I'd feel more comfortable with him helping me if you don't mind." She smiled innocently.

"Uh sure..." The now flustered woman said, turning to lead the way to the dressing room area. Jane triumphantly turned on her heel, the hem of her swirly skirt flaring up a little to reveal more of her slender, shapely legs.

It seemed my playfulness had backfired.

I made to follow her into the dressing room when she suddenly turned placing her small palm on my chest.

"Wait a bit."

Then she closed the door. I let out a held in breath, raking my fingers through my hair.

There was a small area beneath the door where I could see her dainty feet encased in those tiny blue heels. Her dress abruptly covered the heels where it landed in a puddle of material around her feet. Damn...

She stepped out of the dress then I saw her fingers as she apparently bent now sliding her panties to her ankles. I closed my eyes, slowly beginning to count backwards from ten...

"Seth, I can use your help now." When I reached three, her light, musical voice called softly to me from behind the door. She definitely had a wicked streak. How was I going to help her try on a swimsuit without wanting to touch her...which I definitely couldn't...here. It was going to be the sweetest thing devising revenge for her wayward mischief...

I resolutely opened the door, closing it behind me. I was furiously glad and disappointed at the same time to see that she had at least put on the bikini bottom. Then I couldn't tear my eyes away from how the bit of burgundy material fit her. The strings tied at each side of her hips accentuated their rounded curves...she was so tiny but so perfectly shaped...

My eyes travelled up to her flat stomach and then to her bare breasts, the tips the exact colour of blushing pink rose buds..and so tight and rigid...

I managed somehow to find my voice. Though talking was the last thing I felt like doing right now.

"_What _are you doing?"

"Trying on the swim suit you insisted I get, Seth." She said sweetly, smiling with outright deviousness now. If she was trying to prove that she could make my impulsive want painful for me, she was succeeding...

She turned to the mirror, her eyes meeting mine as she deftly covered her delectable perky breasts with that damned bikini top.

"Do you mind helping me put this on." She blinked her eyes deliberately at me. My fingers flexed as I felt the intense need to touch her. Not touch her with an impersonal touch as required to...assist her but to really touch her.

I painstakingly grasped the strings now, my fingers uncharacteristically fumbling against each other as I tried to tie the thing as quickly as possible at the nape of her neck.

"Ok...I'll be outside now..." I said hastily.

"You forgot the other one." Of course she wasn't letting me off that easily.

"You love to tease me, don't you?" I whispered. My hands brushed against her skin as I knotted the bikini string at her back.

"Whatever are you talking about, Seth?"

I chuckled lowly."There will be repercussions for that. Consider yourself warned."

She shivered a little against me. I trailed my fingers lightly down her stomach now as I stood behind her, watching her face intently in the long mirror. She inhaled sharply, briefly sliding her eyes shut.

I growled low in my throat, my eyes fixated on how the two bits of material looked on her.

My fingers cupped her there, and I used one of them to lightly press against that particular spot that I had personally learned drove her crazy...It was just a fleeting touch but she gasped loudly. I swiftly moved back from her, opening the door and glancing back at her over my shoulder.

"Yes, it will be sweet. Getting my revenge for you torturing me like this..."

Her golden eyes were wide as she glanced at me. Her startled innocent looking expression was in direct contrast to her sinfully, wicked curves... My gaze slowly roved over her almost bare body revealed by the tiny bikini.

"Perfect fit, by the way." I said before closing the door.

I abruptly turned away vainly trying to hide my...reaction to Jane's mischief as the shop lady approached now. What I was going to do to this taunting little vampire when we were alone...

* * *

"So this date...it's not in this city?"

"No, we're almost there." I grinned cheekily.

I had organized this a few weeks ago through a buddy from New York who referred me to that particular hobby. That had been before I even knew about her...Luckily I was able at the last minute to include her as well. I hoped she would love it as much as I did...

Finally we arrived at the centre located approximately twenty two miles from Seattle. It was at the perfect time of day, just before sunset when the sun was not all that bright thereby not revealing her stunning radiance.

I summarily handled all the arrangements as Jane impatiently waited. Then I shepherded us into the changing areas where I made sure to wait outside as she changed again, this time into suitable wear for this little expedition of ours.

"You're ready?" I asked unnecessarily as she stepped out. She had on a smaller version of a t-shirt to mine and those sweet little legs of hers were poured into dark, comfortable jeans. She wore boots like me as well.

"I don't know since I have no idea what I'm getting ready for."

I grabbed her hand. "Ok you're going to find out now."

As we strolled hand in hand in the large, open outdoor area, a guide met us escorting us to the helipad where the helicopter was waiting, its engines already running.

"Where in the world are we going?" Jane turned to me, her brows creasing in consternation.

"I'm kidnapping you..." I said darkly.

"Seth!" She exclaimed protestingly.

I chuckled. "Relax. And trust me."

She sighed loudly as I helped her up into the helicopter.

"Hi kids, I'm Bobby, your pilot today and this is Daniel your guide for this expedition."

We quickly shook hands with the two men as we settled ourselves in the small passenger cockpit area.

"Great. Nice to meet you guys." I said smiling. "I'm a friend of Jimmy, one of the other guides...he referred me here."

"Oh so you've done this before?"

"Yep. I believe this is her first time, though."

She scowled prettily at me then glimpsed out through the open spaces of the helicopter where it had been stripped of its doors.

We lifted off then, the helicopter ascending rapidly as the whirring motors increased in speed and volume.

"Wow, this view is amazing." She said wonderingly, looking down at the canyon and flowing river far below us.

As a vampire, she had many supernatural tendencies so I knew it'd take something unusual to impress her. By the look of her fascinated expression, I'd been successful at doing that. I smiled in satisfaction, fiercely glad to share this experience with her.

"It'll be even more amazing falling into it."

She glanced at me quizzically and I grinned with anticipatory elation.

"We're jumping!" She exclaimed excitedly, her face lighting up in a wide smile.

"This is the first time I've seen a first timer react so positively to bungee jumping while in the air. Normally everyone is enthusiastic...until they see how high it really is." Daniel said.

"She's tougher than she looks." I said. She turned to me then smiling slyly and I grinned back at her.

As the helicopter began to descend a little closer to the picturesque canyon and meandering river, we were strapped into our harnesses. I felt the surge of adrenalin pumping through me now and I was thrilled to notice she felt the same. We shared excited little glances every now and then as Daniel explained all the guidelines and safety measures.

"Ready?" I said softly knowing she'll be able to hear me over the loud whirring noise of the helicopter.

She nodded quickly, practically bouncing up and down on her feet with excitement.

I grabbed her hand as we hesitated for the briefest second on the precipice of the helicopter. Our fingers intertwined tightly.

As soon as Daniel gave the signal, our feet left the solid ledge simultaneously and we free fell into air.

"Whoooohooooo!" I shouted, my voice immediately drifting off in the powerful, whooshing wind. Jane gave a short, shrill scream as we continued in a free fall that seemed to go on and on...

The force of the air current should have loosened our grip on each other but our hands held tightly as we rapidly plunged down for several hundred feet. The cold temperature didn't affect us in the least.

It was as if we were suspended in time in sky and wind, and I wished it would never end. But it did all too soon. After the momentum of our descent slowed and we experienced that second bounce in the air, we had to release the cord from our pouches which allowed us to softly drift down to the ground at a pre-determined spot situated on the river bank where a crew awaited us.

The bulky harnesses were off us in no time and then I had her in my arms. Her face was _pink _with exhilaration and I marveled at how she seemed so human now. Her golden eyes which would appear hazel to others gleamed with the thrill of what she had just done and her stylish updo had loosened , her pale hair cascading past her shoulders. She looked absolutely lovely.

I kissed her spontaneously and she responded so readily.

So sweetly.

We were oblivious to the people around us as we savored each other.

* * *

We were dropped back to where I'd left the car. She insisted that she wasn't thirsty as we made our way back to Seattle. I was starved so we stopped at a little diner.

"This doesn't bother you, does it?" I asked before digging into my double cheeseburger.

She shook her head slightly, leaning forward in her seat a little and watching at the food curiously as she sat opposite me.

"I know human food isn't really appealing in terms if smell and such to you..."

"Actually, it doesn't smell bad at all to me. I just have no desire to...eat it."

"Is there any food you're...curious about tasting if you could?"

"Chocolate!" She said instantly, smiling softly. "I heard about how great it tasted...from someone." She added hesitantly.

"Who?" I boldly asked. I always had this insatiable curiosity to glean as much knowledge about her as I could...

She sighed then. "It was from...a human child...a little girl...her parents were part of a group that had met their gruesome end in one of the..feeding frenzies. I had...chosen her but I didn't...I didn't kill her. I managed to secretly get her out of there...she told me about chocolate."

I looked at her placing my hand over hers. She gently slid her hand from beneath mine, placing it in her lap and looking away.

"Jane..." I was about to protest her removing her hand from my touch when she said lightly, "And it reminds me of the colour of your eyes...dark chocolate." She smiled determinedly, a suspicious sheen of moisture making her eyes shine brightly.

"You _are_ tired of their lifestyle, aren't you?" I asked softly. I knew at first she'd...lied when we first met about having run away from Volterra. Yet now I was beginning to believe that she truly did want to escape there. And I'd do everything in my power to help her of she allowed me to. Not only because I wanted her to be with me but because it would be the best thing for her to reclaim her life from that place of horrors.

She shook her head. "I didn't do it out of any real consideration Seth. I did it for a purely selfish reason, simply because she reminded me of...me when I was that age."

I could see she would be persistent in believing that there was not one shred of goodness in her. I wholly believed otherwise but I decided to let it go for now.

I wasn't finished having fun with her yet and I reminded myself that we would forget about everything for a few more hours at least.

We left then and within another hour I was driving into Seattle again heading back to Pioneer Square.

After I parked the car, we strolled hand in hand through the square. I showed her the many shops and stalls with all their gadgetry and merchandise on display. She had remained in the t-shirt and jeans ensemble from our bungee jumping escapade and left her hair loose down her back. She looked just as gorgeous casually dressed as much as in any trendy get up.

We found ourselves in a photo booth where we took a series of casual pictures together, laughing as we made silly faces and struck outlandish poses. She made me down three different samples of wine so I could tell her what it tasted like. I manfully swallowed the vastly varied flavours as she observed gleefully. We perused some books in one of the bookstores and she lingered there for long moments, moving quickly from shelf to shelf sometimes lingering on certain books more than others. At one point I had to remind her in a low whisper not to move that fast as she was almost moving at vampire speed in her eagerness to peruse the many books.

Then we managed to actually get into one of the clubs there. I easily passed for the twenty one and over age limit but it took a little persuasion to convince security that Jane was twenty one as well. We got a real laugh out of that as we made our way onto the darkened dance-floor lit by flashing bright lights.

"Seth, I'm not dancing!"

"Have you been having fun so far?"

"Yes!" She said right away with no hesitation and I grinned.

"Good! Then don't stop now." I grabbed her then and holding one of her dainty hands, I moved to the dance music easily and Jane stood stock still for a moment but I pulled her to me, moving her with me until her feet began to mimic my movements.

"See, it's not so bad is it?" The frantic pace of the music had changed to something more mellow now and we moved slowly together, our arms wrapped about each other.

"Nothing could be bad with you, Seth."

I sobered as her words sunk into me. "It could always be like this..." I said to her. It was tragic that she hadn't even really lived after being alive for so long. This was but a tiny part of the joys we could share together. She moved so easily among humans now. She could even go to college if she wanted to! I could help her in that regard. It didn't have to be right away...she could learn to master living among people much like the Cullens had. There was nothing we couldn't face together.

"Come to college with me..." I whispered to her now.

She giggled softly. "Don't get ahead of yourself."

"I am completely serious, Jane. This isn't meant to be funny. Even if you don't feel comfortable doing that right now, it is a definite possibility...we can have all the time together for you to get re-aquainted with humanity. It's only been a few weeks...and you're doing so well."

She sighed softly. "Seth, this isn't something I had ever planned on doing...being with you like this...I never thought in a million years I'd ever want to live among...people."

I smiled down at her, noting how she went from saying humans to people. Such a small thing as that further indicated that she was ready for a better way of life...away from Volterra.

She nuzzled her tiny nose against my neck, inhaling deeply and I almost stopped our slow dance as I felt myself tighten in response. I quickly looked around. The place wasn't that crowded, there were about three other couples on the spacious dance-floor moving slowly to the music, caught up in their own little bubble.

I glanced down at her again. I knew she was thirsty now and I whispered, "Take what you need, baby."

"Here?" Her eyes were slightly glazed over with wanting and I nodded quickly.

"Yes. You can drink from me with no one the wiser, you have more control now."

"But what about you? Will you...behave?"

I chuckled softly. "Don't I always?"

"I don't think I should, here like this..."

"Do it." I whispered huskily.

Her eyes drifted to my neck now where my pulse was hammering rapidly. Her hands tightened on my shoulders and she shifted her slender body even closer so that she was pressed against me.

"Seth, I'm not sure I'll be able to stop..."

"You can...you will. I'm stronger now, I can give you what you need without getting unconscious." Due to my developing stronger physical attributes, I was able to withstand her drinking that much more without weakening and losing consciousness altogether. Also I wanted to prove to her just how capable she was of infiltrating herself seamlessly into the normal world. I knew she could drink from me surreptitiously and easily without anyone being aware even if we were being observed.

I felt her teeth graze along my neck and I throbbed against her stomach where I was pressed against her. I swallowed harshly trying to focus all my concentration on moving us about in a semblance of a slow, intimate dance.

I felt her small teeth sink into my skin and then she was sucking me. I could hear her small whimpers of pleasure as she drank from me.

Trying to dance...trying to appear normal...

The sensation of her lips pulling against me made me groan softly. My hands reflexively tightened against her lower back as I moved slowly against her. While she drank, her hands moved from my shoulders to my arms, her fingers rubbing up and down my biceps in an unhurried, sensual rhythm.

All too quickly, her lips left my heated skin, her soft tongue licking the spot where she'd bitten. The music suddenly sounded loud again and I opened my eyes to stare at the way the colorful strobe lights illuminated her pale skin intermittently in the dimness of the club. That now familiar pink flush was marking her smooth cheeks.

"Let's get out of here." I said, my voice husky as I stared down at her.


	31. Chapter 31

**Author's Note:Thank you so very much for reviewing!**

**Disclaimer: Twilight doesn't belong to me**

**Chapter 31**

**Jane**

In what seemed like no time at all we were back in Forks. I hadn't wanted to come back here anytime soon. A fleeting feeling of foreboding raced through me as the familiar terrain flashed by through the car window.

That thought came again. For us to just keep driving somewhere where no one could possibly find us. Such wishful thinking.

Dusk was now blanketing the sky as he took another route, this one not leading directly back to the Cullens. Glancing at him, I felt a spurt of anticipation flutter through me as I wondered what he was up to now.

"We're going to the beach..." He said casually as if reading my mind.

"The beach." I responded speculatively, smiling impulsively. I liked the sound of that. "That means I'll be wearing my bikini..."

"Yes if you wish. Or we could just go on straight to the skinny-dipping..." He replied glancing over at me, his voice low with that deep huskiness of his that I loved hearing so much.

"Skinny-dipping?" I asked wondering what that was about now. I really felt totally out of sync sometimes yet he was such a darling, never really making an issue of my ignorance with these modern customs. I truly felt as if I fell out of a time machine or something.

It was amazing how the depth of feeling we shared transcended time...and I wanted all the time in the world to spend with him now. I didn't think I could ever tire of seeing everything I had missed out on through his eyes. While it was not the sole basis for forming my developing opinions on modern life somehow he made everything so much more enjoyable, so much more significant.

"You'll find out very soon what I'm talking about." He said slowly, smiling mischievously .

"Hmm, why do I get the feeling that this skinny-dipping doesn't involve wearing anything at all?"

He grinned over at me. "Very astute of you..."

The shrill sound of his phone echoed loudly before I could reply with a cryptic remark.

He picked it up, frowning as he glanced at it.

"Hello? Alice..." He sounded surprised to hear from her.

I glanced over at him a bit curiously. What could she be calling him for?

He suddenly pulled over abruptly, screeching to a halt.

"Hold on, okay?" He took the phone from his ear, watching me calmly.

A bit too calmly. All his normal cheerfulness of just a moment before had completely vanished. "I'll be right back." He said quickly, smiling at me. I could tell that his smile was forced though.

"Seth, what's going on?"

"I...need to take this call." He swiftly darted out the car, running several feet away along the greenery bordering the roadway. Why would he need to leave the car to take a call from Alice? So I couldn't hear what he said? What was he trying to keep from me?

I couldn't see his face as he spoke to Alice and I intuitively knew whatever the reason was for her calling that it wasn't a good one.

After just a couple minutes he came back in the car, abruptly turning around and speeding off towards the direction we had come from.

"Seth what is it? What's going on?" I asked again. I noticed how his hands began trembling violently as he clutched the steering wheel desperately.

"We're getting out of here. Going somewhere far away...for a while." He spoke through his teeth harshly, the growling tone of his voice more resembling that of a wolf than a human.

Going away didn't sound so bad...

"Why?" I asked calmly.

His jaw clenched tightly but he didn't respond to me.

"What did Alice want?"

He wouldn't even look at me now.

"Why won't you look at me?" He still resolutely continued not to answer me. Or look at me.

I felt a mixture of fear and annoyance rippling through me now at his silent reticence.

"Seth whatever it is, running away isn't going to help. It's...unfair of you to do this...to not tell me what's going on."

He let out a deep breath but still continued driving.

"Alice saw the...Volturi coming." He said eventually.

I barely managed to stifle my gasp.

"When?" I asked, fortifying myself with a deep breath.

"Within the hour." His voice was a tense, strangled whisper. He stared straight ahead, speeding at probably the fastest the vehicle could move. I tried to make my voice as soothing as possible now, trying not to rile him any further.

"We knew this was going to happen, right?" I reached over to him, grasping his hand. "We'll face this together. They'll find us Seth. Running away isn't going to resolve this."

"I know." He whispered. "She said...they're very close."

So little time left.

"Look Jane, I'm not running away. I want you to do something for me..."

"Anything..." I said, looking at him now.

"I want you to stay somewhere...I'll face the Volturi with the Cullens...I'll come back for you."

"What?! No...I could never do that...And besides where do you want me to stay?"

"I know of a place out of town...they won't look for you there.."

"That's absolutely ridiculous!" I interrupted him harshly. "I'm not some little frail human in need of protection, Seth! And I'm not going to hide from the vampires I've lived with long before you were even born!"

"I can't think of them taking you away from me, Jane." He said quietly now.

I tried reasoning with him now, softening the caustic tone of my voice.

"It doesn't work that way, Seth. We face this together. I know what to expect from them...I know what they're capable of."

His jaw clenched and his eyes glinted with determination as his hands tightened on the wheel. The vehicle lurched even faster than I thought it could.

I could see I hadn't made a dent in his steel like determination to spirit me out of here. I felt a sudden, deep panic. I couldn't think of him facing them alone! He would just get himself killed, especially in this irrational, blind rage of his. I couldn't even incapacitate him to save him from himself and I knew he could easily overpower me now.

Complete helplessness and frustration suffused me and I didn't know how to cope with this.

My eyes spontaneously brimmed with tears and and I felt their unfamiliar wetness spilling down my cheeks. I grasped at my hair in a frenzy as panic almost suffocated me. "Seth, please you can't do this...don't do this..."

He turned to me, his eyes widening slightly as he stared at me and his tremors ceased as he slumped his shoulders. All the rage had deserted his voice now as he said gently, "Jane, listen to me, I'm not going to risk losing you..."He stopped speaking abruptly, swallowing convulsively. Then in a tone lower than a whisper, he said, "Unless...unless...you want to go with them."

"Seth, you can't force me to hide from this." I said, sniffling a bit and reaching up my hand to wipe the tears trailing down my face. What a nuisance. "It'll only make things more dangerous. They have to see I'm there...if you insist upon this impossible course, if Aro doesn't see me, they could kill you on sight!"

"You are underestimating me." He said darkly. This is what I was born for Jane. It's embedded in my genes, to destroy vam..." He trailed off then, glancing at me quickly.

"Yes, say it." I said, my voice unconsciously rising again. "You were born to destroy vampires...the same way that you should have destroyed me..."

A pained expression engulfed his face now and I hated that I caused that.

"Seth, just turn around. Let's go back to the Cullens. They'll need _our_ help." I said deliberately stressing that they would need both of our help, knowing that he wouldn't want them to face the Volturi without any support.

"I'm not taking you back there..." He said firmly.

"Seth, turn the car around. You can't do this! You can't keep me against my will!"

* * *

He remained silent for a long while after my shrill outburst. I felt this deep hurt that he did not even glance once at me in those tense, interminable few minutes. Did my opinion matter so little to him? But he slowed the car down before stopping altogether. He turned to me then, his dark eyes boring into me with unrelenting intensity. I unflinchingly stared back at him.

Without saying another word, he revved the engine again, turning the car around. He had to have known it would be impossible for him to keep me like this...like some sort of possession. I winced a bit guiltily at my thoughts. Of course he'd been a bit possessive but it was only because he cared deeply about my well-being and had this outlandish belief that I couldn't fend for myself. I had been fending for myself long before he knew I existed...

All too soon we were pulling up to the Cullens' abode now. He glanced at me again and I turned to him, sighing softly. Our eyes locked and I allowed myself to drown in the mesmerizing pool of static emotion that connected us. That deep, jolting energy that arced between us, that was rampant in his gaze.

That connection anchoring us together even echoed through the wave-lengths of our minds. He wanted to protect me to the extent that he would forcefully hide me from a confrontation with my...master and I'd wanted to do the very same thing for him.

I weighed the option of trying to convince him yet again to go away from here and not face them because of me. But I knew my pleadings wouldn't sink his will, judging by the determined set of his jaw even though he regarded me so tenderly now. He was dead set about confronting the Volturi...

Bella, Edward, Alice and Jasper were grimly awaiting us on the porch in tense, still stances that betrayed their avid anxiety.

"There's no time at all. There'll be here very soon." Edward said softly.

Seth tilted his head, scenting the air inconspicuously. "Where's Carlisle and the others?" He asked.

I then noticed myself the absence of Carlisle, Esme, Renesmee, Emmett and Rosalie.

"They left a few hours ago to personally seek their previous allies. Jacob has taken Renesmee away...somewhere." Jasper said in a monotone that conveyed no emotion whatsoever. Yet he appeared even more anxious than the others and I supposed it was because he was absorbing the rest of our combined anxiety with his particular gift.

Seth glanced at me mutinously when Jasper said Jacob had taken Renesmee away. I ignored his gaze steadfastly...he knew where I stood when it came to his over-protectiveness.

"That was before Alice saw them coming, though. They left earlier while you guys were out. They would never have left us to face them alone if they knew they were coming this soon." Bella said. Her face was set in the same harsh grimace that she had worn when I first came here. It was almost incomprehensible how I _fully_ understood her animosity toward my brethren.

I couldn't blame her in the least for feeling that way not when I now knew how much you wanted to be with someone that you would do anything to defend that union, to preserve it...

"What am I going to do?" I whispered unconsciously to myself. Seth growled. I hadn't meant to say that aloud. I turned to him. My mind seemed to be in a jumbled blur. I felt that cold panic and fear rising in me again as we all stood on the porch in the darkness of the night. I couldn't conceive of anything happening to him. I would do any and everything in my power to prevent him from getting hurt.

"They're almost here.." Alice said, her voice extra shrill with a panic that echoed my own.

This trepidation was becoming too much for me to grasp in this moment even with my vast capacity to feel a variety of emotions at once. All I could do was helplessly stare at Seth as he paced maniacally before us. He was a trembling mass of barely reined fury, seeming on the verge of phasing right then and there.

Just then there was movement from beyond the border of the trees and I gasped loudly expecting to see my peers inauspiciously emerging from the forest now.

"Not yet. It's the wolves." Edward said.

A large number of the Quileute wolves appeared then, their large forms moving silently onto the clearing before the porch where we stood. Of course, they would all come to support Seth ...and the Cullens. Just like the last time.

Seth stared at them, a bleak look in his eyes. I went to stand by his side, tentatively placing my hand on his shoulder.

"They shouldn't be here. It'll only make things worse." I whispered painstakingly.

"I'm not going to risk losing you." He said again, his voice breaking at the end. I bowed my head feeling the tears threatening to escape again. "Besides, it's our duty as Quileute wolves to protect each other, to safeguard the imprints of each other, it's how we operate. I would do the same for any of them if their imprint was...in danger."

"I'm _not _in danger." I softly insisted. It was so unnecessary to bring these other wolves into this pending confrontation. I knew how much pain it would cause him if any of his peers got hurt...or worse. And if Aro saw such a large resistance, he would react even more antagonistically.

"Aro's not coming." Edward muttered.

Both Seth and I turned to stare at him in surprise. If he wasn't coming then who did he send?

"Felix and Chelsea." Edward responded to my mental question.

"That's all?" Seth asked hopefully.

Alice, Jasper, Bella and Edward all glanced at each other warily. Then they stared at me.

"And Alec." Alice said softly.

I couldn't help flinching reflexively. Alec. Only three of them. And Alec among them. I didn't want to think of the ramifications of this, if things escalated out of hand...

Yet if Aro had sent only the three of them that meant they didn't come here for a battle. He would have brought the entire guard if that had been his intention.

"They're exactly three miles from here." Alice said quickly. "They're coming north of the forest. At the speed they're moving, they'll be here any minute now!"

"We should meet them in the forest then." I said impulsively. "It's just the three of them, they obviously haven't come here to physically oppose you. We can keep the wolves out of this..."

There was a chorus of growls from the wolves gathered before us then.

Seth leaned down to whisper harshly in my ear. "They are not staying here while we face them alone, Jane."

"She has a point." Edward said. "We shouldn't let them come this close to the town. We can meet them in the forest to prevent that...and call for back up from the rest of you if it becomes...necessary for us to do so."

I valiantly tried not to think of the fact that they had most probably been in close proximity to the town in any event if they had taken the same route I had used when I first arrived here.

A nerve ticked against Seth's jaw as he continued to regard me with ruthless severity. He was allowing his misplaced possessiveness of me to affect his reason...

"That's your sister out there, Seth. You don't want to place her in danger." I said beneath my breath to him, hoping to pacify him somewhat.

"If we're going to meet them, we should leave now!" Alice said urgently.

"Seth, please...stay with the wolves...I can talk to them..." I said, attempting one last time to prevent a confrontation between him and my peers. And my brother.

"Not a fucking chance." He snarled, interrupting me harshly. I sighed, swallowing deeply and staunchly stifling my deep foreboding. Nodding resignedly, I moved into a sprint together with Bella and the rest of the Cullens.

* * *

We ran through the darkened woods at top speed, Seth easily keeping up with us in his human form.

We hadn't run even a mile into the forest when I unerringly sensed their presence just beyond us. Simultaneously we all stopped running together, coming to a standstill just before a thick copse of trees directly in front of us.

Even under the dark cover of night, this part of the forest was familiar to me. In fact, it wasn't that far from that cliff..._our_ cliff...

I closed my eyes tightly, inhaling sharply.

I felt him move beside me then, grasping my hand warmly in his. I slowly raised my head to stare at him. All the rage and rancor had deserted him now as he looked down at me and our eyes locked deeply.

"Know that I would rather die than lose you." He said softly with firm conviction.

There wasn't even time for me to respond with a vehement protest to his distressing words. Because emerging from the trees just before us were three, familiarly cloaked figures. The huge, hulking form of Felix. The tall and slender frame of Chelsea. And my beloved brother, Alec.

They slowly approached us now stopping just a mere few feet before us. My gaze drifted to Alec and I met his eyes as he stared at me closely.

"Alec." I mouthed silently. Under any other circumstances I would have been so glad to see my dear brother but the atmosphere was just too tense for me to feel any kind of elation right now at seeing him.

There was complete silence as they regarded me, Seth and the Cullens.

Then Alec gasped loudly.

"Jane..." He uttered in disbelief, his eyes pinned on me, staring at me uncomprehendingly. "What happened to your eyes?"

I glanced down at the ground then looked up again to see his gaze shifting to Seth who stood closely beside me, his arm wrapped around my waist.

Alec's eyes darkened with anger.

"You're changing her." His normally passive voice had hardened with hostility. I saw all the signs of what he was about to do.

"Alec, don't." I said to no avail. My warning was unnecessary however. Alec's attempted psychic assault was made useless by the strength of Bella's shield.

Alec hissed between his teeth with the same frustration I had felt not too long ago, stalking toward Seth now. Seth abruptly released his hold on me, stepping away from me. His body shuddered violently as he prepared to phase. It seemed for a never ending moment as if I was suspended in shock.

Then I resolutely broke out from my shocked stillness, rushing up to Alec and grasping his shoulders, momentarily stopping his advance.

"Alec stop! This is unnecessary." I looked back at Seth. He was staring at me with a look of desperation. I glanced back at Alec, who was still looking murderously at Seth.

I couldn't _abide_ both of them hurting each other. And suddenly I knew what I had to do.

Behind Alec, I could see Felix and Chelsea regarding the Cullens with outright menace. Bella, Edward, Alice and Jasper held themselves in tense stances, ready to defend themselves against any move my peers might make.

I was the cause of all this and it seemed to me in that moment that there was only one way to resolve this pending fight. I would no longer disrupt the Cullens lives...and Seth would be much better off without me contrary to what he believed.

"Aro is awaiting your return home, my dear Jane." Felix uttered. "We'd like to return to Volterra before the next feeding."

I swallowed deeply, a hint of nausea rising within me at his words. I still held Alec back by his shoulders and he grasped my arms now. "Yes. Leave with us sister."

Felix came slowly forward and handed me a folded vellum of paper. With one hand I took the piece of parchment glancing at Felix as he smiled ominously. I unfolded the paper and swiftly read the cursive printed there.

_ Return to Volterra at once. Or we'll end Alec._

_ Your beloved master,_

_ Aro_

I crumpled the parchment to tiny bits in my fist. A chill made its way down my spine now and my face hardened as I glimpsed the gratified smirk on Felix's face. He sobered instantly when he observed me coldly regarding him.

How_ truly_ unnecessary that little note had been. I was coming back anyway. Something hardened implacably inside me as I felt the first stirrings of rage and disgust toward Aro. His brief, printed words were like a degrading slap to the face. His threat was a menacing mockery of our history.

"Jane." Seth rasped. I closed my eyes briefly, trying to mentally prepare myself for the task before me.

Then I glanced back at him, trying to memorize every detail of his face, everything about him. He held out his hand to me, imploringly, a panicked look seeping into his eyes. "Jane, come to me." He said softly now and I couldn't tear my eyes away from him as I held onto Alec who growled threateningly still rearing to go after Seth.

I looked into his eyes one last time. "I'm sorry." I whispered. Forcing myself to look away from his compelling gaze was one of the hardest things I ever had to endure...

I turned quickly to Alec and the others now, nodding quickly.

They immediately understood my unspoken gesture.

As a unit we darted off with incredible speed into the trees. We didn't have much time to make this escape...

Already I could sense Seth phasing and the chilling sound of his baleful howls seemed to echo right through my bones. I was certain he was communicating to the other wolves to chase us. I furiously darted ahead now, leading them towards the cliff. I knew, just as I had before them, that they had entered Forks via the highway but we wouldn't be able to make it that far without Seth and the others catching up to us.

"Where are you leading us?" Felix called out harshly.

"We have to jump off the cliff! There's no time to do anything else." I answered back quickly.

Chelsea was the first one to soar over the precipice. I had to pause suddenly as I came to the edge, gasping softly as pain sliced through me.

Pure heartrending pain at what I was doing.

Leaving him.

This was another fire again, this pain, a searing, incapacitating heat and I almost buckled to the grass from the weight of it. I wrapped my arms about myself, bending over a little as dry sobs wracked my body.

"Jane, they're almost upon us!" Felix said harshly. "Jump now!"

"I could stay and kill that dog for making you suffer like this!" Alec said, placing his hand gently on my shoulder.

I turned at the sound of his pounding wolfen feet thumping on the ground together with several other wolves echoing along with his. I knew if I only faced him again that I wouldn't be able to tear myself away from him. But either way, my brother's life depended on my decision now. If I lingered a mere moment longer, Alec would attack Seth and Seth _could_ kill him. And if I didn't return to Volterra at once, Aro would have Alec killed.

In one mercurial movement I turned around and allowed my body to fall into the churning waves below. Felix and Alec immediately jumped as well.

I sank into the chilled water, wishing fervently that I could just drown, knowing that I wouldn't. Without bothering to surface, I forced my limbs to slice through the tumultuous ocean, the remnants of my mind darker and colder than the tangy water engulfing me.


	32. Chapter 32

**Author's note: Finally updated! Thank you for reviewing : )**

**Disclaimer: Twilight doesn't belong to me**

**Chapter 32**

**Jane**

All my senses seemed to be on fire as the private chartered plane glided smoothly through the night sky, taking me further and further away from...him.

I hadn't even been aware of the tears silently coursing down my blank face, totally oblivious as Felix and Chelsea stared at me in mute fascination.

Alec enfolded me in his arms now as he sat beside me and I unconsciously pressed my face into his chest. My shoulders heaved as pure anguish rocketed through me yet I didn't make a sound. If I did I would begin to wail uncontrollably...

"Sister, please I can't bear to see you in such obvious torment as this..." His words had no impact on me whatsoever, it seemed as if I had lost my capacity to feel anything except this overwhelming grief. Then something occurred to me...

"Alec...can you...numb me?" I managed to gasp breathlessly. I looked up at him and his face was a mask of pure shock.

"Jane...no! I could never use my power on you..." He said, his eyes wide and his smooth angelic face creasing into a frown.

He would be appalled at my request of course as we had always used our powers against enemies only...

"You would be helping me..." I'd meant to calmly tell him that but the words were wrenched out of me in a helpless sob. I didn't bother to insist though, certain that_ he_ was suffering just as much as I was. I deserved every bit of suffering I endured now...But he _didn't._ He shouldn't suffer over one such as me.

"I swear I will ensure that creature will pay for affecting you like this..."

Alec's words tugged at me depressingly through the murky depths of my anguish. And I wanted to say to him that he should not direct his anger at...Seth. Just thinking of his name was like a knife twisting freshly in the gaping wound I had sustained since I had leapt off from...our cliff.

Alec needed to be angry at Aro...

It appeared to me now as if he had no knowledge of Aro's cursory note...that the note had most likely only been privy to Felix and Chelsea perhaps. But I couldn't enlighten him of Aro's intentions right now, not with Felix and Chelsea right there to hear every word. I was determined not to further endanger him to Aro's wrath, it was the least I could do now.

If it was possible, I would try to confer with him alone if I was afforded the opportunity which seemed highly unlikely. I wouldn't be returning as the high esteemed Volturi I had been when I left Volterra. That cold, unfeeling torture machine that I had been was irrevocably lost forever now...and I could not regret that one bit...not when my eyes were now opened to a new way of life. Not when I truly knew the depth of feelings I could experience. That I _enjoyed_ experiencing...

I had lived for two centuries, existing impassively and I could have gone on like that for an indefinite amount of time.

If I had never met him.

It would have been so easy to continue like that than cope with this piercing, heart rending grief. But I would rather feel this pain a million times over than to have never met him at all. And I couldn't conceive of facing the endless stretch of my life without him...

He had instilled in me a craving to see and experience more of the world, to explore further, to gain new knowledge and to feel the sheer satisfaction of being free to live as I chose. The rigid routines and structures of Volterra would no longer soothe me now. Ironic how I thought that staying at the Cullens had been imprisonment when I had really been imprisoned all my life...

I lifted my face away from Alec now, averting my eyes from his searching gaze. I had never felt more distant from him at this moment. And I wondered how he would react to my new found philosophies on this immortal life we shared.

I wish somehow I could impart to him how our existence was really filled with... emptiness. From our human childhood on-wards, we had always supported each other and there was nothing that could make me desert him now. Even if I felt as if I had left a huge piece of myself in the tiny town of Forks. I bleakly wondered what he was doing at this moment. It was so painful to contemplate but my mind would offer me no respite from the pain since I had left him.

It would not be long before I had to face Aro now. He would soon see for himself the depth of the chasm that now separated my will from his. A chasm I had no intention of crossing ever again.

* * *

**Volterra**

The huge underground fortress that comprised our stronghold in Volterra had never appeared more formidable to me now.

Seeing my home once again, I could not help but compare it to a dreary albeit luxurious and antique tomb. It was a tomb that housed all my previous beliefs...the tomb where I had been 'asleep' for far too long, blindly following Aro's every wish and command, not even knowing what it had out there waiting for me...

I had been buried in missions that had taken me further and further from the girl I had once been a long time ago...until _he_ had unearthed me from the gloomy, empty repetitiveness of my existence. He had practically brought me to life...out into the harsh reality of the world's bright light where I could now see for myself how truly horrific and unfeeling I had been...he had revealed longings in me that I had suffocated and placed into a dark corner of my mind...longings that he had fulfilled to all their long forgotten potential with his genuine love and appreciation of life. I was fiercely grateful for that long forgotten mission that had led me to him.

But I couldn't dwell on my internal rationalizations now not when my brother's life hung precariously in the balance.

Without any preliminaries or even a private moment for myself, I was summarily escorted to the main room where the...others awaited me. Felix gripped my arm with Chelsea on my other side as the great door was flung open before us. I sensed Alec close behind me as well.

A sense of deja vu fleetingly passed through me as I recalled how I had been similarly escorted to the Cullens' home in this very manner. Yet I expected nothing less of my Volturi now...I was after all the renegade member who had to be _threatened _to ensure her return home.

I did not have an idea of how Aro knew of my defection, of how he had obviously ascertained my shifting allegiances. All I really was sure of now was that he undoubtedly knew of my reluctance to return, hence the reason for Felix and Chelsea to escort me now as if I were a ...prisoner.

I sighed softly to myself, wishing with all that I was that we had been able to run away together...

"Welcome home, my dear one." Aro drawled now from where he sat on his dais, the smile playing about his thin lips not reaching his clouded red eyes. "We have all missed you...so much."

Missed me? You mean, missed my all too convenient power...

As I walked towards the raised altar where they sat, I steadfastly ignored the stares of my Volturi peers, my eyes glued to the stone floor. I didn't need to look at them to know how they were looking at me. Like the condemned Volturi that I was...or soon would be in any event. Countless times before, I myself had been on the sideline stoically observing past condemned vampires walk toward their fate. I had never imagined I would be in a position like this. But even more startling, I had never imagined that I wouldn't really give a damn.

I had kept my eyes lowered to the floor all this time and now I slowly raised them almost defiantly, glaring at Aro, Caius and Marcus. They would see from the change in my eyes that it was the first indication that I was not willingly in league with them anymore.

There were a few gasps from the other Volturi gathered before the dais. I didn't acknowledge them in any way. Caius was staring at me, a range of looks reaching out to me from his ruby gaze, shock and anger being the most prevalent.

"So, you've become a Cullen now?" He spat harshly, his brows drawing together in his ancient face as he regarded me with cold, outright disdain. Aro placed his hand pacifyingly on Caius' shoulder when he would have said more.

Marcus as per usual, betrayed nothing of what he felt whatsoever.

Aro smiled his charming, beatific smile at me as his eyes met mine. Usually that was a prelude to some harsh judgement. Still this implication didn't elicit any apprehension in me. I was past caring...nothing seemed to matter anymore after seeing that look of devastation on _his _face after I had willingly left him. I only hoped Aro would spare Alec because he didn't deserve to pay for my...change of heart.

"Welcome home, my dearest Jane." Aro said again, his high, papery thin voice vainly trying to convey warmth. He held out his hand as if in welcome but I knew it was an unspoken command for me to grasp it.

* * *

**Seth**

I was plunged in deep, all consuming darkness. Then slowly the edges of that darkness began to lighten incrementally. In the fog of my slowly awakening mind, I vaguely heard someone speaking my name.

"Seth? Can you hear me?" Carlisle's voice.

I felt as if there was a heavy weight over my eyelids and I struggled to open them now.

When I finally got them open, I looked around groggily, recognizing the pale, familiar walls of the Cullens' rooms. My eyes, which hadn't regained their extraordinary sharp vision landed on Edward, Jasper, Emmett and Jake as they stood silently observing me. I slowly sat up from where I was lying on the bed, looking at them a bit more closely as my eyesight gradually got clearer.

Why was everyone watching me so...warily? The way their eyes were glued on me, watching my every movement made me feel as if I was some kind of wild animal they had under surveillance or something. Okay, so that wasn't too far from the truth given my wolf nature but I wasn't _wild_...

There was something nagging me at the edges of my mind now, something I felt I should remember...

"What happened?" I asked cautiously, now noticing the numerous bandages covering my arms, my ribs and my legs. My chest was bare and I only wore a pair of shorts so I could see the faint blue bruises all over my skin.

"You...don't remember?" Jake asked.

"Remember what caused me to be wrapped up like a mummy? No I don't...what's going on?"

They all glanced at each other.

There was something vital missing here...some part of me seemed...empty...

_Flash_. Frantic desperation while racing at impossible speed through the dark forest...not not racing, chasing something...

"You had an...accident. Most of your bones were broken..." Carlisle explained to me now as I tried to track that elusive memory that had fleetingly entered my mind.

"Fortunately you were unconscious while I had to re-set all the bones as you had started healing so rapidly..."

His words trailed off as another flash hit me again. This time one of raging fury. Even from just a memory, the intensity of that feeling that I had agonized through made me grasp my head now as I struggled to recall what could have caused me to react in such a way.

Edward and Carlisle exchanged a glance.

"It won't be long now." Edward whispered.

Emmett and Jasper moved forward a bit their gazes riveted on me in a tense scrutiny as my fingers dug frustratingly into my hair, trying to remember... I felt a wave of calmness wash over me now and my fingers slowly relaxed as I took a deep breath.

Then another flash. Following after her in a dead run, seeing her jumping off that cliff...

_Jane._

I stood up so fast that the hospital grade bed that I had been sitting on was sent flying against the wall behind me with a ringing metallic clatter. Swiftly I begun ripping bandages from my arm as Emmett, Jasper, Edward and Jake began to cautiously enclose me in a circle now.

"Seth, you haven't entirely recovered yet, you still need to restrict any rigorous movements...and if you phase you will injure yourself even further..." Carlisle said to me softly, his demeanor still one of calm as the others fixed their gazes on me with rigid concentration.

His words fell on deaf ears as I recalled how she had left me. She had led her...comrades to our cliff, turning her back to me and diving into the ocean. She couldn't have made it any more clear that she didn't want to be with me, that she preferred her life with...them.

I growled harshly. _Red haze._

I started to stalk towards the door but Emmett, Jasper, Jake, Edward and Carlisle made a solid line before me as they regarded me soberly now.

"Let me pass!" I snarled.

"Just what are you going to do, Seth?" Jacob asked quickly.

There wasn't even a question about what I was going to do. She'd made it clear that I didn't own her but she sure as hell owned me...

"Seth, if you attempt to phase now you could possibly impair your ability to phase again in the future." Carlisle said gravely.

My whole form was one huge tremor. However what Carlisle said about impairing my ability sliced through the intense red film that had begun to cloud my vision and I was able to hold back my raging wolf instincts. My bare, bandaged chest heaved vigorously as I concentrated now on taking deep, calming breaths. Then I felt another wave of calm wash over me. I glanced at Jasper who was focusing singularly on me.

It seemed he had kept up this vigil on me as I had started showing the first signs of agitation but when I had experienced my rage of just a moment before, he had not been able to affect my temperament in the least. It seemed only after I had made the decision myself to calm down, only then did his gift affect me at all. It was something I would have found interesting to discuss if only my mind was free from the beginnings of resolve enslaving my reason.

I shook my head slightly, slowly moving back now. I would need all my strength soon enough. It would do no good to just burst out of here in a hot, hasty rage. My solid intentions needed a clear head. So I gingerly sat back on the bed, leaning my forehead into my hands as I pondered the quickest way to get out of here with no one being the wiser...

I tried to force myself to be completely logical and strategic minded. But I only kept seeing the the way her eyes slightly crinkled at the corners when she smiled, kept hearing in my mind the way her laughter sounded like tinkling wind chimes... I only kept remembering the sweet peaches and cloves scent of her skin, the texture of her fine, silky hair between my fingers...

Deep breath.

Now I vividly remembered following her, careening over the cliff in my wolf form without even stopping to think about what I was doing before being unwittingly dragged away by the virulent water...then after that...just darkness.

"How did you guys find me?" I asked wonderingly.

"You re-surfaced in your human form not too far from La Push." Jake said, his voice grim. We were patrolling all the nearby shores for you, we couldn't have allowed anybody else to find you if you had...been in your wolf form. For a minute, we thought that you...that you hadn't made it...when we found you. You were in pretty bad shape."

I was still at this very moment in pretty bad shape. I wouldn't feel whole again until I was holding her in my arms. But I said nothing of this to anyone now. They had already went out of their way enough for me.

Edward caught my eye then and I shook my head slightly. He seemed to understand my mute indication for him not to disclose my thoughts aloud as he barely nodded his head in response.

"How long will it be before I'm fully healed?" I asked Carlisle, glancing at him.

"You're almost there now." He responded. In just a few more hours, your bones will be sealed back together as they're supposed to be."

I let out a sigh of relief.

"But before then, you should inhibit movement as much as possible to guarantee full recovery."

The others had relaxed their rigid postures now, as I was more obviously calm. Yet right beneath my calm facade, I was a raging mass of cold calculation.

"Leah just left a little while ago." Jake said. "We...haven't told Sue anything so far."

I nodded, swallowing anxiously now. I would make time to go see them before I...left. Now I put all my focus into convincing the Cullens minus Edward that I was calm and collected now, that I would no longer react impulsively.

I struggled not to think of what I planned to do, knowing they would try to stop me...

It would ultimately make more sense if I could have gotten help...I would have had a stronger chance at making it out alive, I guess. But everyone's lives were firmly rooted in Forks and I would not tear them away from it or endanger them any longer because of my circumstances.

My reason for living now was somewhere in Volterra...

This was between me...and_ them_.


	33. Chapter 33

**Author's note: JR, thank you so much for your wonderful review, though I wouldn't go that far as to describe myself as a better author (hides face). CatchingStar, your review made me update faster! Heheh...thanks for your continued reading : )**

**Disclaimer: Twilight doesn't belong to me.**

**Chapter 33**

**Volterra**

**Jane**

Aro smiled his charming, beatific smile at me as his eyes met mine. Usually that was a prelude to some harsh judgement. Still this implication didn't elicit any apprehension in me. I was past caring...nothing seemed to matter anymore after seeing that look of devastation on _his _face after I had willingly left him.

"Welcome home, my dearest Jane." Aro said again his high, papery thin voice vainly trying to convey warmth. He held out his hand as if in welcome but I knew it was an unspoken command for me to grasp it.

Hesitantly, I placed my small hand in his cold stone one.

For what seemed like eons, Aro stared at nothing in particular, his eyes losing a bit of focus.

"Leave us!" He hissed abruptly to every one, finally releasing his hold on me.

He nodded at the guards and they remained where they were stationed close to him. Without any questions, every one else left the room including Marcus and Caius. Alec hesitated but eventually left with the others, glancing back with furrowed brows at me. I watched him leave, my eyes wide with the increasing desperation I felt. I didn't want him from my sight for even a moment, not knowing how serious Aro was with his threat, if it had been a passing whim or not.

"You truly demonstrated how much you have fallen in love, haven't you, my dear Jane?" Aro spoke when everyone left.

I turned to face him squarely. The drawling mockery of his tone made my skin crawl. Heat suffused my cheeks as I clenched my fists.

He stared with widened eyes at my face, whispering, "It's already started happening."

"What's already started happening?" I ground out between my teeth.

"Be careful, dear. This new antagonism of yours towards me is not something I am willing to tolerate."

"Will you really kill Alec?" I asked without any preamble.

"Jane, Jane." His tone of voice resonated with regret as he chanted my name in a sing song voice. He smiled widely, clasping his hands together and shaking his head at me, his brows drawing together as if he were under heavy duress.

"Do you really think I could harm any of you when I know to harm one is to harm the other? You are like the children I never had...I was scared, dear one. Scared that you had never wanted to return to us again and I perhaps reacted a little rashly." He said softly, lowering his head a little as he regarded me in this remorseful manner.

"I was going to return, Aro." I whispered. His act didn't fool me in the least. He should have known better than to lie to me like this. I had witnessed this same demeanor he adopted with countless other vampires before me when he wanted them to believe his words. Which were normally in direct contrast to his thoughts. I hadn't lived in Volterra for this long without learning how Aro's mind worked.

"I thought I had lost you...I would do anything to make your life with us more...enjoyable. What is it you want, my bellisima?" He smiled at me again, his eyes widening slightly as he watched me closely.

I knew his benign question could possibly be a trap or a test but I just decided to lay it out there for him. It seemed to me that there was no use in hiding what I really wanted now. Though it was apparent that I would never get what I wanted if it were up to Aro. Which it irrevocably was.

"I want...I want to try a new way of life. With Alec. Please." Another sense of deja vu rocketed through me, this time derived from so long ago when we had just been humans, pleading to embark on our own to live our life as we pleased. Two centuries later and it came around to full circle...

"If that's what you want, my dear, I will see you have it."

My eyes widened a bit and I could not believe to myself that it would be this easy. I knew there was a 'but' in there and I waited as Aro made a steeple of his fingers. He swiftly turned around, his back facing me as he paced slowly before the empty dais.

"But all I require is that you serve me for one more year...then you may go and Alec as well if he so wishes."

"I...I don't think...I don't think I could wait a year.." The words slipped out of me impulsively. He turned to assess me now.

"That is no time at all, my bellisima. Just a blink of an eye in the entire scope of our immortal existence." he said.

It would seem like forever to me to stay that long away from him...

"Just a year is all I ask. Then you and Alec can go free if you still wish it."

His response to my request was more optimistic than I had hoped for but I would not pin my yearnings on this...stipulation of his. He had some agenda planned, of that I was most certain. It was not like I had a choice right now anyway. I couldn't just very well walk out of here no matter how much I wanted to...

Slowly, I nodded.

Aro inclined his head at one of his personal guards and the guard brought forth one of the signature Volturi cloaks to me.

I stared at it for a moment before numbly slipping it on.

* * *

**Alec**

A deep, all consuming anger infused my entire being as I stood stock still in agitated restlessness in my private room. My too vampiric body did not betray the raging tumult of my thoughts. Contrary to what Jane thought, it was not an anger solely directed at that...wolf.

It was an anger mostly directed at our master, Aro. My eyes narrowed at his ridiculous schemes and at the way he'd used my sister to implement them.

I had never considered the vampire we had served for all this time to be one to squander sheer power. And I wanted him to ultimately pay for his bold and crass move.

I knew it was not a guarantee that we would find allies among the varied ranks of Volturi but Jane and I combined would make a formidable front against any more of Aro's plans. I had spent centuries being at the forefront of Volturi led battles and I intended to use all of my strategies learned within that time to do what needed to be done.

Everyone considered me to be the more dormant out of the two of us but hardly any of them knew of the profound restlessness and resentment brimming just below the surface of my subservient facade.

Not even Jane was aware of how long I had been awaiting an opportunity to escape here. But opportunity be damned now, I could not stand being here any longer.

What riled me as well at this moment was the manner in which Santiago, that intrusive bastard, was surreptitiously telling practically everyone of what he had observed in Washington. I could have killed him with my bare hands for daring to sully my sister's name with his careless words.

I knew she had been innocent all this time and not only that but that she had been blind to a lot of things that had always plagued me. Like how I always knew that I wanted to escape from here, to be free to live as I pleased. For a long while now, I hadn't been using my power to merely please Aro as my sister had always been motivated to do. I used my power as a means to stifle my impulses of mutiny.

The way he had practically pimped Jane to that dog to gain more supremacy in his maddened power hungry state was literally the last straw for me.

I would not stand passively by while my sister suffered. I myself could detect the changes in her already based on what I had overheard from Aro's description a few weeks ago.

Her scent was beginning to resemble more of a human than a vampire and I could detect the blood coursing through her veins. Even her skin seemed more fragile now, easily becoming flushed with the blood that infiltrated her system in this new, baffling way. And those tears...

During all our time in Volterra since our creation, I had believed that she had been content, unlike myself. For all appearances, she had seemed to be. Her apparent contentment was one of the reasons that had dissuaded me from making a bold escapade thus far. She had served Aro with a devotion not seen in any other Volturi without the influence of Chelsea's skill.

I knew that Aro had really planned to kill me if she hadn't returned with us...it was just as well that she did return now for if Aro had attempted to get rid of me, my hand would have been forced too soon.

It was one thing for me to be the object of Aro's wrath but I couldn't contemplate _her_ being in any type of danger at all...

* * *

**Jane**

I weaved my way carefully through the familiar dim corridors of the huge fortress trying to inconspicuously make my way to Alec's room.

I needed to see that he was fine, not trusting Aro one bit.

I sensed others' eyes observing me now as I walked with determined composure, my face deliberately blank and my hands relaxed at my sides though my fingers kept curling up reflexively into tense fists. I felt uncharacteristically uneasy as I made my way further into the fortress where our private rooms were located. Stifling the urge to glance over my shoulder, I strolled leisurely forward.

Just ahead of me I saw Demetri and Santiago casually standing just before the other entrance into the next corridor.

"None of us are good enough for her but she would prefer a dog rutting between her legs."

I lifted my chin high, bent on ignoring Demetri's deliberate jibe. I had more important things to do namely finding Alec. I intended to pass through the entrance without so much as a glance at them but Demetri smoothly shifted to stand in front to me, blocking my way.

Slowly I lifted my eyes to him, I could feel the blood rushing to my face now as I furiously glared up at him.

"Get out of my way!"

"Get out of your way or what? There's nothing you can do now not when you're no longer the favourite pet..."

He reached down to lift a few strands of my hair which I had left loose not really bothering or caring to put it into its usual knot. He wrapped the ribbon of hair around his fingers tugging me sharply to him as he lowered his face to mine. I leaned back as far away as I could, glaring at him coldly.

"Let go of me." I whispered in a seething hiss.

"I do like this new look to you, love. Seems as if your time away from us has loosened you up somewhat...too bad your dog lover is not around to appreciate your newfound...appeal."

With a hiss, I pushed myself far away enough from him to fix him with a harsh glare. He immediately crumpled before me, his hands grasping onto me as he slid down to the floor. I pushed him off me, his convulsing body hitting the stone floor with an echoing clatter. In my peripheral vision I noticed Santiago slinking away stealthily now.

Kicking Demetri out of my way, I stepped around him continuing my quest to find Alec.

"You'll pay for that, you bitch!" Demetri called out behind me.

I stalked forward now before I turned around and gave him another dose of what he deserved. Heidi tentatively approached me now, her crimson eyes darting anxiously to Demetri who had been on the floor behind me before looking at me. I smiled slightly as she did not quite meet my gaze. At least some things hadn't changed around here.

She remained a little distance from me in the vast corridor.

"Master Aro has sent me to inform you that dinner is served." She smiled gratifyingly, perking up a little now. She probably thought her bright announcement would improve my mood. I regarded her menacingly and her smile slowly disappeared.

"Thank you but I'm not hungry." I hissed icily.

Felix stepped out from another doorway, approaching us now.

"Your presence is requested." He said in a tone that brooked no room for argument. "Aro sent me to escort you."

I was not ruffled by his brusqueness in the least.

"As much as I appreciate your gesture," I said calmly, casually lifting one of my hands to study my fingernails. "I was on my way to get Alec, he can escort me if you don't mind."

I didn't wait for his response, I just continued walking. Felix reluctantly stepped aside to let me pass as Heidi fluttered her hands in agitation beside him.

Finally I saw Alec in the corridor outside our private rooms. I rushed up to him and he grasped me.

"Jane, how did it go?" He asked. I glanced behind me. Heidi had disappeared but Felix still lingered far down the winding corridor.

"Don't be mad ok but I asked Aro if we could ...leave here together...leave the Volturi." I whispered quickly. "I didn't know how you'd feel about that."

"What did he say?" he asked dryly.

"He said we can..."

Alec's eyes widened.

"If we serve him for one more year." I finished.

Alec shook his head slowly.

"They're...they're going to feed now Alec!" I continued whispering frantically. "And I don't think I could...I don't think I could do this anymore."

"What do you mean? Is it the killing?"

I swallowed. "That's part of it...but it's also the blood."

"Felix's coming." Alec said softly.

I turned around to face him as he strolled towards us.

"You know how Aro hates late comers." He gestured for us to follow him.

We made our way now into the communal area where there were a group of people milling about. I could see they were not yet aware of their impending doom as they drifted about the great room conspicuously studying the marble structures of the ancient statues.

I lagged slightly behind Alec as Felix glided forward with eager anticipation in front of us.

All too soon the familiar scene began to unfold itself as I sensed the others emerging now from the dark corners where they had hidden themselves. I resolutely turned my face away, shutting my eyes tightly as the first scream tore through the still air with shrill reverberation. I clutched Alec's arm more firmly now in my rising panic.

"Alec, I can't do this..." I whispered to him desperately.

Alec kept his eyes riveted forward in a blank expression as I opened my eyes to glance up at him . His voice was a bare whisper through his almost closed lips, "We've done this a million times, Jane. What's the difference now?"

I took a deep breath then gagged a little as the scent of the fresh human blood hit me. My fingers grasped my stomach as I slightly bent over now, fighting this alien sensation of nausea surging through me.

"It's the smell of human blood...it's...upsetting me!" I managed to whisper to him.

"What?!" He looked at me uncomprehendingly now. "When did this ever start happening?"

"I noticed it on the plane. The pilot got a nick." I said, trying not to breathe unintentionally as I spoke.

It was so...strange the way human blood smelled to me now...it was an odor similar to fetid, dank water...just thinking about it caused me to gag again.

Alec stiffened beside me and I raised my face slowly turning to follow his gaze as Aro stepped out of the frenzied melee before us. He held a man's hand in his grasp now using very little force to get this person to follow him to where Alec and I stood apart from the rest.

"Jane, my dear, I have brought you a delectable fine morsel. He should be more to your taste." Aro shoved the young man forward and my eyes unwittingly fell on him. He was literally trembling with fear as he timidly regarded us. He couldn't be more than eighteen years old at best. But what captivated me at this moment was his startling resemblance to.._.him_. He had the same copper toned skin, the same slightly tousled ebony hair before...he had cropped it.

He was not as commandingly tall but his frame was similarly leanly muscled as well. And his eyes...his eyes were that same compelling liquid chocolate hue...

The poor boy was gasping with terror now as he beheld us.

I tore my eyes away from the petrified human, my gaze shifting to Aro now. He smiled slowly, folding his arms as he met my eyes and inclining his shiny dark head slightly to the side as he stared at me mockingly.

How I _hated _him right now. He had deliberately gone out of the way to taunt me like this, finding this...boy from heaven knows where just to spite me.

All the events of the day past seemed to descend on me now, causing an intense rush of fury to rise within me as I glared at him. I hadn't meant to use my power then but I had become so enraged in that moment that I gave no thought of what I was about to do.

Until Alec abruptly stepped in front of me snapping my involuntary concentration before the pain could leap out from me. There was blatant fear stamped across his face as he looked at me, grasping the tops of my arms tightly.

"Jane...no!" He whispered shaking his head slightly. I blinked as Aro hissed softly.

"Alec. Step aside." Aro's voice thrust through the space between us like a sharpened blade of ice.

Alec slowly did as he said but he still stayed close beside me.

Aro ground his teeth together as his eyes darkened lividly. His lips curled up in a brutal sneer. Then he slowly walked to me as I lowered my eyes to the floor. I gasped as he grasped my chin roughly tilting my face up so I was forced to look at him.

"You did not intend to cripple me just now, did you?" He whispered menacingly to me. All about us the other Volturi were fixated on satisfying their appetites, oblivious to what was going on so that we were mostly unnoticed where we stood with only Aro's guards now drifting forward to surround us.

I knew it would be useless to deny such a thing even as Alec said quickly, "No she didn't!"

"Yes I did." I said distinctly.

Aro's eyes narrowed, his face was just mere inches from mine. Then with the same cold fingers he used to grip my chin, he shoved me away from him. Gasping involuntarily, I stumbled a bit as I skittered back, righting myself before I could fall to the ground. Alec moved towards me but two guards grabbed him by his arms halting his steps to me.

"You would dare do this to me? You ungrateful little wretch...I have never punished you throughout all the years here but it's clear to me that needs to be done now."

Aro's rising ire was now catching the other Volturi's attention as they finished their satisfying their rabid thirst.

He nodded quickly to one of the guards behind us. Before I could react, I felt a heavy material being slung over my eyes and tightened with irrefutable force. My arms were yanked back behind me as I gasped almost soundlessly.

In my blindness, I heard some scuffling and Alec shouting, "Leave her alone!"

"Please don't hurt him..." I pleaded brokenly as I was led away. I put up no struggle as I was unceremoniously shoved along and then I heard the clang of metal. It sounded like a gate opening. My hands which were being held tightly behind my back were now being tied together with a steel like chain material that Aro had specially made for recalcitrant vampires. Then I was shoved roughly and the forceful grips of the guards where they held onto my arms were removed as I heard the unmistakable clicks of the gate being locked.

I knew I was in the punishment cell now and I slowly felt my way along the wall before sinking resignedly down onto the floor. Why, oh why couldn't I have controlled myself better? I should have known Aro would have baited me, should have known that he would try to ascertain just how much I was willing to re-commit to the Volturi now.

I really didn't care any more what Aro decided when it pertained to me as a result of my impulsive reaction. The only fear I felt was for Alec's sake now.

And despite my feeling of immense loss, I could only feel grateful that _he_ didn't have to face Aro, too.


	34. Chapter 34

**Author's note: Thank you my readers, for your favourites, follows and reviews : )**

**Disclaimer: Twilight doesn't belong to me.**

**Chapter 34**

**Seth**

As soon as the time stipulated by Carlisle for my full recovery had arrived, I got out of there, surreptitiously going to my house and getting everything in place. Hurriedly I threw a few essentials in a carry on then quickly showered before pulling on another one of my black t-shirts and a pair of dark blue jeans. As I tightened my boots, I was extremely grateful that Leah wasn't home right now to take note of what I intended to do.

"Mom, are you home?" I held the phone to my ear as I slung the bag in the car before getting in hurriedly.

"Hi, honey, I just came back in from work. What's going on?" She replied.

"Nothing. Much. I'll be passing there in a few."

"Of course. Will..._she_ be coming with you?"

I closed my eyes briefly before answering. "No...she won't."

I snapped the phone shut and drove quickly, arriving there in no time at all. If only it would take such a brief time as this to reach to her as well...

"Seth, honey you don't look so...well." Mom said staring at me, her brows crinkled.

"I'm...fine." I will be when I made sure that she was.

"You look great...but I can see that something's bothering you. What is it?"

I should have known I wouldn't have been able to hide how agitated I was from my mom. She always seemed to sense with an almost uncanny ability when something really bothered me. I was never more grateful for Carlisle's medical ministrations. Physically I showed no signs from my decision to plummet wolf first over...the cliff.

I clenched my fists instinctively, a tinge of red seeping into my vision as I stood there on the small porch with my mom. Taking a deep breath, I forced the memory from my mind if only for this moment.

I was just really glad that mom wouldn't be able to detect the injuries, now healed, that I had inflicted upon myself. She didn't need to know about that...incident. It'd just needlessly worry her...I had to talk to Leah about that. Maybe call her. I didn't have much time.

"So, how are things going...with Jane?"

A nerve ticked in my jaw as I averted my face away, turning to stare out at the freshly mowed grass. I placed my hands on the wooden railing concentrating on keeping my breaths measured. My fingers involuntarily tightened on the wood and there was a subtle cracking sound. I instantly removed my hands off the railing, stepping back a little with a deep sigh.

"Seth?" Beside me, mom stared up inquiringly at me.

"Not so good..." I whispered in answer to her question about...her.

"What happened?"

"She...left."

"Seth, I'm so sorry to hear that."

I nodded numbly, bowing my head as I stood my with my face averted from mom's sympathetic perusal.

"Where was she from?"

"Italy." I said automatically.

"Come inside honey, we can talk about this...if you want to."

"Look mom, I have to leave now to go do some stuff." I turned to her now, my arms engulfing her in a hug. "I love you, mom."

"Aw, I love you too, honey. You sure you don't want to come in, I've got a pie in the oven. Blueberry." Mom smiled encouragingly. I smiled back half-heartedly, shaking my head.

"Ok, come see me as soon as you're done with your...stuff. We've got to talk more about this."

"I'll try...to make it back." I said, giving her a quick peck on the cheek before going down the short steps in one leap.

I turned back glancing at mom and smiling in what I hoped was a reassuring grin before going into the car. I drove off quickly as she watched worriedly from the porch long after I'd disappeared.

* * *

Everything seemed to be tinted in a red haze as I went through the necessary routines that would get me from Seattle, Washington to Volterra, Italy.

I hadn't even made it through the first part of my trip as stealthily as I'd wanted to because waiting for me right at the check in counter were Edward, Bella, Emmett, Jake...and Leah.

"What are you guys doing here?" I raked my fingers peevishly through my hair which had started growing back out again.

"We're not letting you go off on a suicide mission, dude." Emmett grinned hugely.

I quickly looked around at the moderate crowd in the airport, wondering how they intended to try to stop me in such a public place from leaving.

"What could you be possibly thinking, Seth?" Leah said harshly, folding her arms and glaring at me. I did not have the patience to deal with their well meaning interference now.

"Lee. Go home. Please." I said quietly as possible.

"We're not going to let you just kill yourself over her!" She snapped exasperatedly in response.

"I understand that you have to go there, man. " Jake said softly, pinning Leah with a hard glance. "As your alpha, I fully support you in this..." He continued. "She is your imprint after all. And you know I know that you'd do anything to...see her."

"Don't encourage him like that!" Leah seethed through her teeth at Jake.

"Seth, do you even know where you're going?" Bella asked skeptically.

"I have a...general idea." I had done meticulous research on the location of Volterra weeks ago, not long after I had imprinted on her but I had never been to Italy before. Yet where there was a will, there was a way...and my will was unbreakable.

"The least we can do is accompany you there...and show you the way. We'll be close by." Edward said softly.I shook my head ruefully.

"I can't ask that of you...you guys have done enough. This is something that I think I should do on my own. All of you shouldn't risk your lives like this because I've made the decision to follow her there."

"Funny how you two think so much alike sometimes." Edward said under his breath.

Emmett clamped his meaty hand reassuringly on my shoulder.

"Seth, think about it...she's a strong...Emmett hesitated. "...girl...I think she'll find a way to get out of there and come back somehow."

"Well I'm not going to sit and wait around for that. Not when she might...need me...they might try to hurt her...I just can't bank my hopes on something like that."

"She fucking left you, Seth. I'd say she wouldn't want you trailing after her like a lost puppy!"

"Leah!" Jacob growled. "Shut it."

I couldn't even be annoyed at what she said to me. It was the harsh truth. But I was still going anyway. And I had no time to waste standing here while they tried to vainly make me 'come to my senses'.

"Here's an idea. You guys can stay here debating on this...and I'm going to catch my flight. See you later."

"Seth! Get back here!" Leah scream whispered as I breezed past them. I had no excessive luggage to check in so this should go much quicker.

In the end _all_ of us ended up on that flight even though a crowd was the last thing I wanted. But I still felt really grateful for their support. I recognized the risks they were willing to take for me...for _us_...by leaving their safe and happy lives and worried loved ones behind to see me through with this.

They were probably so determined to come along because they most likely gleaned from my temperament that my life as it were did not matter to me in the least...if I wasn't successful in getting her to come back with me. If not, then I'd make sure to take out as many of _them_ as I possibly could before they killed me...

Jacob should have insisted that Leah stay back though, even if he had to use his alpha command. I knew he was loath to use it and he never really did except during my unusual wolf aggression but I thought he would have agreed if I had asked him to for her sake. But there was no time to think of that now.

We would figure out how to keep Leah out of this impending altercation when we arrived at our next stop.

We got on to our other connection in Washington without any delays. In the brief time it took to arrange that, I managed to talk to Jake privately.

"She shouldn't be here, Jake."

"Why?" Wasn't it obvious to him?

"She could get...hurt." I whispered painstakingly.

"Well so can you, so can any of us...I won't tell her to go back Seth. She's your sister and if she can't prevent you from doing this then I won't be the one to dictate to her that she can't come along to have your back."

"She'll just be a distraction. I am only focused on doing one thing right now...and that's getting Jane out of there."

"She goes back and we all go back _only_ of you decide to return to Forks with us."

"You know I won't do that. I can't."

"I understand. But don't tell me to force her to not try to salvage this situation."

I shook my head resignedly, internally cursing Leah's pig-headedness and Jake's refusal to command her to return.

Now we were in the air again and there were _ten _hours until we arrived which included another connection from Florence to Volterra.

That seemed like a fucking eternity...

During the long, interminable flight, I became submerged in a deluge of the moments we'd shared together during the past month.

The moment I'd first recognized her as my imprint...the way how her red eyes had glowed with menace as she had advanced on me as I lay there on the grass, the pain miraculously melting away as a new, more welcome sensation had taken its place.

How it felt the first time she drank from me...so shocking and forbidden...I felt my heart begin to race at the memory of her lips drawing my blood from me, at the way her soft, silky tongue always licked the spot she'd bitten though with my wolf genes that wasn't necessary to heal the wound. Even if I didn't heal as fast, I would walk around proudly and boldly with all the scars...

I remembered the first time I heard her laugh...her bell like voice sounding even more angelic, more ethereal than anything this side of heaven.

The way how she had opened herself to me, telling me about her life...and there was still so much more that I wanted to learn about her still...

I remembered the first time our lips touched...and _our _first time together...and God help me, I didn't want it to be our last...

Exactly ten hours, fifty four minutes and seven seconds later, the detached announcement to engage our seat-belts as we would be landing jolted me from my thoughts of her. I hadn't slept one wink throughout the long flight. In fact I hadn't slept since I'd recovered from my bone shattering injuries and couldn't remember the last time I'd really slept before that. And the strangest thing was, I didn't notice any adverse effects from my diminishing need for sleep.

Now, I was finally closer to seeing her..and I wondered how I could possibly 'lose' a mind reading friend, his perceptive wife, a battle hungry but well meaning buddy, a hovering alpha and most importantly an over protective wolf sister...

I sighed, darting up and loping toward the plane exit now.

* * *

"Seth, what on earth are you doing out here?" Bella whispered to me as I stood on the bustling avenue directly outside the Volterra Airport. I had been hoping to sort of sneak off to at least be the first one to arrive at Volterra Square and then find a way to infiltrate myself past the Volturi's guard before they could catch up to me. But Bella was obviously on to me as she had followed me out here when I thought they had been preoccupied with arranging transportation.

If I had been able to run off before they became aware, it would have achieved my plan to not put them at risk. And especially, to avoid a confrontation with Leah. I knew she would insist on accompanying me into the actual place where they lived which was _not_ going to happen...I couldn't focus on protecting both myself and my sister at the same time in there...

Not when I had a more dangerous, urgent confrontation to contemplate now...and the less time it had for contemplating the better.

"How were you planning on getting there?" Bella asked me now.

"I'm going to take a taxi as close to the location as possible then walk there." I said in a casual matter of fact way, shrugging. Actually I had been planning to run there but there were simply too many people around to accomplish such a feat. Should have thought of that. It didn't matter to me how I got there though, what was most important was that I _would _be there.

I groaned in defeat when I spied the rest of them emerging now from the revolving glass doors.

"A taxi, Seth?" Emmett shook his head slowly, making a 'tsk tsk' sound.

* * *

Edward and Emmett had managed to acquire two cars, Bugatti Veyron convertibles no less and on any other day I would have out-rightly admired their choices.

But all I could really only admire right now was the speed with which Edward drove. Yet he still managed to update me on what I might expect when I actually made it into the Volturi's inner sanctum.

"They are the most strong, most powerful of our kind, Seth. And they won't hesitate to kill..."

From what I had observed when they had visited Forks, I knew just how quickly they could kill...judging by how speedily they had dispatched the Denali sister.

"Aro, their leader has the ability to glean all your life's memories and thoughts just by touching your hand." Edward said.

A deep agonizing fear clawed at me now when I thought of Jane being subjected to Aro's 'gift'. He would see everything that had transpired during her stay in Forks...and I didn't want to think of what his reaction would be. This realization just proved that the deep intuitive feeling I had could be right. That she could be harmed.

I just hoped I wasn't too late to prevent her from possibly getting hurt...and as of yet, I had no distinct idea how I was going to go about doing that.

I closed my eyes tightly shut, my hands balling up into tense fists as I concentrated on keeping my cool.

"I doubt Aro would hurt Jane, Seth. He considers her to be the most powerfully gifted vampire in the Volturi." Edward said softly.

I felt the car slowing down audibly as the streets got narrower and I slowly opened my eyes. I vaguely observed how the place seemed like a city made of stone, the cobbled concrete of the rustic buildings seeming to be made of the same stone as the long winding streets and tunnels that interconnected the buildings.

It was now approaching dusk and the light of the sinking sun painted the quaint buildings in a warm wash of orange. Volterra had an old world charm and beauty that I had no appreciation for right now.

"This is the part where we can walk now." Bella said.

We all piled out of the cars and proceeded to 'casually' stroll through the narrow, meandering cobbled alley-like streets as if we were merely tourists. This slow, crawling walk we were forced to do solely for a humanly facade was killing me. I just wanted to blur with preternatural speed to where I needed to be already.

"It's right up ahead of us now." Edward said. We soon converged on a wide public square that housed a majestic, grey stoned building. I hadn't supposed that they would be blatantly located right in the center of this rustic yet anciently polished metropolitan... it showed just how bold they were to dwell in the midst of such public flamboyance.

"Man, this is the mother of them all." Jake said, his eyes glued on the huge, gleaming dome shaped doors. Beside him Leah was speechless for once, her shoulders rigid with restrained anxiety.

Bella and Edward exchanged a secret glance between them. He reached over to her, intertwining his fingers with hers tightly.

"Yeah," Emmett said with relish cracking his huge hands together. "I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm ready to kick some Volturi ass."

Edward glanced at Emmett shaking his head. "That's not why we're here."

"Kill joy." Emmett muttered under his breath.

I strode quickly to the entrance of this building now but Edward quickly moved forward to clamp his hand on my shoulder. "That's not where they live, Seth."

I glanced at him. He nodded his head to another alley that made a dim hollowed tunnel into the extreme right of the rectangular shaped edifice. "They live below."

I frowned. No wonder she had acted like she'd never been in outright sunlight. Oh baby...

This alley where Edward indicated now was darker and more murky than the quaint ones we had strolled through just previous moments before.

"You think they'll be expecting us?" Bella asked.

"Whether they are or not, I'm not waiting around for an invitation." I said striding now with daunting assurance into the dimness of the alley.

"Now, that's what I'm talking about." Emmett drawled.

"Seth, wait!" Leah said frantically, rushing up to grab my arm as I moved swiftly. I reluctantly slowed my lightening quick steps, turning to look down at her.

"Lee, I'm..._asking_ you one last time. Please stay out of this..."

But Leah was not paying attention to me any longer. Her fingers dug unconsciously into my arm as she gasped sharply, taking a small step back as she did so. With mounting caution rising in her eyes, she stared into the shadows before us.

I couldn't remember when she had ever seemed so afraid before.

Raising my head slowly, I turned to directly face whatever it was that had captivated her with such..fear. Just ahead of us there were two shadowy figures. As they approached closer, the bulky silhouettes of their familiar cloaks became more pronounced in the darkness which made no difference to me.

"Such a pleasant surprise that we meet again." The same huge one who had been in the forest, Felix, said smoothly, his eyes fixated on the Cullens as they together with Jacob came up to stand beside me and Leah.

"Felix." Edward acknowledged softly. There was a brimming menace in his quiet utterance though.

"And they brought their pets." The other male vampire said. This one was not familiar to me. I sensed both Jake and Leah bristle but his attempted taunt didn't slight me in the least.

"I request a meeting with your..._master_." I said, my voice deep and strong in the brief silence enveloping the alley. I deliberately placed emphasis on the 'master' part of my statement. How's that for his insolent reference to pets.

"Seth, no!" Leah gasped.

The shorter one of the two then stared at me, his crimson eyes assessing me with vivid animosity as the corner of his mouth turned up in derision.

"So you're the one..." He whispered harshly.

I squared my shoulders, calmly and silently observing his aggressive stance. I didn't want to deal with all of this crap, I _needed_ to see her...I was so close...

"Only one of you is allowed within and that would be...the wolf." Felix uttered, his cold gaze slicing to me.

I sighed internally with vast relief, glad that I wouldn't be endangering my friends and sister after all.

"The rest of you are free to leave..." Felix smiled slightly. I could almost hear the 'for now' that was left unsaid.

"Seth...be careful." Bella whispered.

"Are you crazy! You are not going in there!" Leah shouted.

"I have to, Lee. Love you..." I hugged her briefly as she gripped me. She was beginning to hyperventilate now. I could feel those shudders running through her. Glancing over her shoulder, I nodded at Jake.

"Leah.." Jake reached out to grab her when she would have followed after me as I released her.

"Jake, get your fucking hands off me. I'm not letting my brother go in there..." Leah screeched.

"Get the...girl under control." Felix hissed cuttingly, stepping forward with an ominous look glinting from his deep red eyes. "We do not tolerate this kind of attention-grabbing behaviour so close to our fortress."

"They'll take her from your damned fortress...just don't go anywhere near her." I growled at him.

Felix smiled menacingly, "You go on now, dog. Demetri and I will remain here to ensure they won't be following you." His cold eyes turned again to where Leah was starting to struggle furiously with Jake as she fought to get out of his grasp.

Emmett had to take a hold of her now, too.

"_Leah, we are going to leave here now!" _Jake intoned in his alpha voice. Even in his human form, the double timbre of his command sounded more wolf-like than human.

Almost immediately her struggles ceased, her phasing tremors abating gradually. A huff of resignation escaped her lips as she stared at me, her body crumpling with defeat and her forehead crinkling as tears slowly started trailing down her cheeks.

"We'll get her far away from here now, Seth...we'll take care of her." Jake whispered.

I glanced back at all of them one last time, nodding quickly then swiftly turning away and taking a deep breath before hastening to the spot where Felix had directed me. I stared down for a millisecond into the deep, dark hole.

Then I leapt right in.

* * *

**Author's note: Not sure if Jake could use his alpha voice while in human form...so I took a little extra license...a little more tweaking can't hurt, right? ; )


	35. Chapter 35

**Author's note: Sigh... this is...I don't have any words...sigh...**

**Disclaimer: Twilight doesn't belong to me**

**Chapter 35**

**SETH**

I landed lithely on my feet into a crouch, standing erect instantly as I peered into the darkened corridor stretching out before me. Immediately I went into a run, the pounding of my feet echoing loudly through the meandering tunnel-like area. I didn't bother to quiet my approach as I allowed the red hot fury to take hold of me.

My jaw clenched as I stopped briefly to untie my boots, flinging them off. As I resumed my determined run, I grasped the bottom edge of my t-shirt, sliding it up my torso and over my head and tossing it away. My fingers went to the zipper of my jeans as I shrugged out of them, hardly stopping to pull them down to my ankles and step with prompt agility out of them.

Now it was just me, my boxers and my will to phase as soon as necessarily possible as I moved with blinding speed. Just ahead of me I could see the door that opened to an elevator. I punched the button impatiently, stepping into the cubicle. There was only one direction which indicated that I was going further down into the bowels of the Volturi fortress...and intuitively I knew I wouldn't be coming back up...

That red film was masking my vision again, coating everything in a crimson tint as I breathed harshly. I was going to tear that ancient bastard limb from limb...I didn't care what happened to me afterwards...

I stalked through an empty reception-like area now emerging onto another corridor that led to a pair of wide polished oak doors. In less than a second I flung the doors open wide, my flexing bare arms pushing them with a resounding smash into the stone walls.

A long line of vampires stood facing me, I didn't even bother to count because my frenzied gaze sought out the one vampire I was going to_ destroy._ He sat before that large gathering of vampires, his filmy ruby eyes drifting sardonically over me.

Then he _smiled._

There were no thoughts in my head as I began running toward him save that of ripping his head from his body with my sharp incisors. I was hardly aware of the two vampires sitting on either side of him. I was not even aware of the ready, aggressive crouches of the vampires as they blurred towards me.

I wanted my ferocious wolf expression to be the last thing he saw before he died.

When there was but a mere one feet of space between me and his guards, I exploded into my wolf, the violence of my transformation causing them to dart back as I soared over their heads.

In one motion I dived upon the dais just before Aro where he sat, his derisive caricature of a smile now frozen in place on his powdery white face. Growling savagely, I leapt on him as the other two vampires beside him leapt out of their thrones, landing on their backs and skittering back.

His eyes were wide with shock and his hands reached up to grasp my sides but I was too quick. My teeth bit down into his rock like skin as his hands squeezed against my heaving wolf ribs. Yet I didn't release my bite, I just ferociously kept biting until my razor teeth shredded his skin like a drill splattering a boulder to tiny pebbles. With a ferocious growl, I tore his head from his shoulders with my mouth, launching the dark crown of his head across the room.

I gave one drawn out, triumphant howl.

Then an avalanche of vampires were atop me.

I managed to fling some off, their stone bodies making clattering echoes as I threw some of them off me with massive movements of my head and shoulders. But they kept coming and I inevitably knew that I couldn't fight them all off, that I was going to die in this God forsaken underground fortress rife with the most sinister of vampires.

I just wanted to see her face one last time...

The one who had been about to oppose me, Demetri, came speeding towards me now. One of his fists landed in a hefty, breath socking punch on my abdomen and he reared back his hand for another go as the others swarmed over me now. There was no hand for him to pull back though because with a definitive snap of my teeth, I chewed off his arm from the elbow, spitting it out before me. He howled with an ear splitting crackled sound as he held onto his amputated limb, darting back from me.

I felt numerous hardened arms wrapping around my rib cage now. I snapped at a couple of males who were trying to reach their hands around my neck. I could hardly breathe in enough air as their arms tightened even more around my heaving torso. There were perhaps a dozen of them seeking to overpower me and I was forced into a crouch on the stone floor, their combined strength beginning to weaken my limbs.

"Seth!"

_Her_ voice as she screamed my name...

I managed to crane my head under the pile of vampires atop me. She was standing just inside the door, her eyes and mouth wide with horror.

"Alec, numb them!" She hissed as she ran toward me. She was a vision in white. Such a simple garment molding such stunning beauty...

Too late, to now see the lightening quick motions of two pairs of vampiric arms shooting out toward me.

As I had turned at the sound of her scream, the two damned vampires managed to get their cold, sure hands around my neck, unrelentingly wrapping their sturdy fingers around me. In tandem, they twisted my head.

I heard the tell tale crack. It seemed to echo throughout the vast room...

As darkness begun to close in on me, the weight of the vampires atop me lightened. I had no idea if that was because Alec, her brother had managed to confuse them or if it was my consciousness, my very life inevitably slipping away from me now.

She reached me then, her arms wrapping around me as I fought to keep my eyes open, fought to get a glimpse of her face...

Her sweet, angelic face hovered over me, the silky feel of her pale hair trailing over her shoulders brushing against my fur.

With my last few breaths, I managed to phase back...so painfully... and too slowly...

The phasing almost made the encroaching darkness fully suffuse me but I managed to reach for that one decreasing spot of lucidity.

"J-Jane..."

She held my hand to her cheek now, her wide dark eyes pinned on my face. All around us, the Volturi vampires were realizing that Alec had numbed them but even more were moving with lightening speed through the corridors spurred on by Caius so that Alec was eventually overwhelmed...

I knew I didn't have much time left...

"Jane...please...get out of here...leave...now..." I whispered between wheezing breaths.

"No! I'm not leaving you...you're not_ leaving_ me!" Her voice sounded so strong and sure. And I had to believe with all the little life that was left in me that she'd make it out of this hell hole alive...He couldn't hurt her anymore at least I'd made sure of that.

"Go...now...it's not just you and I anymore..." I managed to gasp.

Then she was torn away from my side and the cold face of...Felix loomed over me, a cruel sneer twisting his mouth. His hands reached out toward me...

Then the darkness took over.


	36. Chapter 36

**Author's Note: Thank you, CatchingStar, that's a good point you made about Emmett and Rosalie. CrazyWriter96 , you made me google what OTP means...silly me...sooooo happy you consider Seth and Jane to be your OTP! **

**Thank you for all your reviews to the previous chapter...it really touches me to know that everyone cares about these characters as much as I do...Please keep reviewing...you all inspire me!**

Chapter 36

**48 hours earlier**

EDWARD

I slowly closed my mouth, blinking my eyes repeatedly after having practically lived through just a _small part _of Alice's vision.

"That's what would happen if we were to tell him of Jane's pregnancy before he meets with Aro. He won't be rational...and we wouldn't be able to save him in time." Alice said distinctly as she stared at each and every one of us. We all stood downstairs in the living room, in varied stances of shock after Alice had painstakingly went through in vivid detail what could take place in Volterra.

I felt my mind traipsing involuntarily again down the disturbing paths I had gleaned from Alice's vision... Aro discovering that Jane had miraculously conceived, forcibly grabbing her as her eyes were bound by some steel like material...shoving her into another room. Other Volturi held her down as she screamed with an agonized sound no living being should ever make...

I closed my eyes wishing I could just as easily close my mental eyes too.

Another vision relayed to me by Alice tainted my mind now...this one later on when Aro amassed vampires, both nomads and carefully selected Volturi to drink Seth's blood ...in a matter of a month, those same vampires would phase into mutated wolves which Aro sought to unleash on us...

And my mind reading ability and Bella's shield wouldn't be able to surmount the psychic strength of these 'mutants'...no one's gift would be able to...

If there was ever a period of senility in our immortal existence, I was certain Aro was experiencing that stage now. The ancient, crazed _critter_ was breaking his own rule, the most sacrosanct rule that governed our immortal world. That we never let the human world become aware of us. Which could happen so easily if no one stopped him from his crazed course...no one could possibly predict how controllable or more likely uncontrollable, these creatures would be.

He was truly going insane in his pursuit of ultimate power...and I'd be ferociously happy to put him out of his demented misery. The past urge in me to destroy the Volturi five years ago was now fully awakened and rearing to be made real now.

JACOB

After reassuring a worried Renesmee on the phone that she'd be home soon, I made my way inside where everyone was gathered in the living area. My mind was still on my sweet Renesmee as I opened the door now. Emmett glanced at me morosely. I knew he sorely missed Rosalie as well. She had decided to accompany Renesmee when I had insisted that she be kept somewhere far away when those three Volturi had come calling. Emmett would have gone with them, but decided to stay back in case the Volturi made another appearance again.

Alice stared at me gravely when I looked at them. She took a deep breath.

"What is it?" I asked slowly.

There was a short silence as they all glanced at each other before staring at me.

" Aro is going to hurt Jane badly...she's...pregnant." She trailed off slowly.

I blinked reflexively and my mouth slowly fell open.

"He will...try to forcibly end the pregnancy..." Alice continued. "He knows of her changes as a result of drinking Seth's blood, he planned all of this, sending Jane here on a pretext, he knew that Seth would imprint on her! He wanted the imprint to take place as a means to generate a new army of mutated vampires...and he knew Seth would follow after her and intends to entrap him and use his blood to create this army. Yet he didn't think Jane could get pregnant... after Seth imprinted on her. He just thought she was becoming a mutated vampire..."

What. The. Hell...

"Does Seth know about this?" I asked in a strangled whisper.

"He left here a little while ago...then Alice had the vision. He's arranging to go to Volterra now...he doesn't know it yet but we're going as well. " Edward said. "It's imperative that he not know about Jane right now...or he will be killed."

"What?! How?" I panted in disbelief.

"If we tell Seth now, he'll go in there in a blind rage and...it won't turn out well." Bella whispered.

I was speechless...frozen with shock into a statue that could rival any vampire's unnatural stillness.

"We can't let him know until we're all in there. And we might not get in there all together at once...he _cannot_ know of this right now." Edward said urgently."He'll...incapacitate Aro fuelled by rage. And then the Volturi will...overpower him. Once we don't tell him, he won't aggressively confront Aro, and we'll have more time to infiltrate the inner fortress..." Edward said with steely determination.

"There's no way Aro is going to get away with this!" Bella snarled fiercely.

"Edward, Bella and Emmett will go to Volterra. In the meantime we'll be awaiting the Denali coven and a few of our friends who have agreed to support us. As we speak, Jasper is meeting Peter and Charlotte. I didn't want to encourage Stefan and Vladimir to oppose Aro in a battle but he's not giving us any choice. They will lend us support as well." Carlisle said grimly. "We'll meet you all in Volterra as soon as possible."

"When he...finishes with Jane and traps Seth, he intends to come here..." Alice whispered. "He will bring the entire guard again...he intends to destroy us once and for all. He sees no need to...acquire some of us to the Volturi anymore as he intends to use these mutated wolves as his personal army..." Alice covered her eyes tightly with her hand. I couldn't even begin to contemplate how these visions must appear to her.

"We're not going to let that happen." Emmett growled."We fully intend to stop him before he can do that load of bull."

I realized then that these damning Volturi would always overshadow our lives...that the confrontation with them five years ago was just a prelude to their menacing intrusions against the Cullens...and against me and my pack...

"Count me in." I said resolutely. "Again..."

"You should join Renesmee and Rosalie, Jake." Bella said softly.

"I should be there...to support Seth. You guys need all the support you can get as well."

"We're going to find an alternate way into their stronghold...and take them by surprise." Edward said. "Bella will shield us...all we need to do is dispatch Aro's personal guards then we'll be able to get to him more easily."

"And she'll help us." Alice said. "Jane will help us defeat Aro...once we manage to dispose of the guards."

"We _have_ to make it in time before Aro gets to her..." Bella said fiercely, her smooth face morphing into a foreboding scowl.

* * *

I had left the Cullens immediately, phasing into my wolf . I rushed through the forest now trying to get home as quickly as possible for a change of clothes. We needed to make it to the airport in time before Seth's flight left.

We'd looked at the situation from all angles as quickly as possible. Everyone agreed that Edward, Bella, Emmett and myself would accompany Seth to Volterra. Alice had foreseen that the Volturi would only admit Seth into their fortress...and that once he didn't know of Jane's condition, he would be more rational. Aro would attempt to negotiate with him then and in that time, Carlisle, Jasper, Alice, the Denali coven and our other allies would meet with us in Volterra. And shockingly, our allies wouldn't only be Carlisle's friends but we would have unexpected ones as well.

Once everything went according to Alice's foresight, excluding that horrific prediction if we told Seth about Jane, we would be free once and for all from the dark hovering cloud of the Volturi's constant threats.

I thought about the reason we couldn't let Seth know right now that Jane was...pregnant. No wolf member of my pack was going out like that. The thought of Aro's barbarous intent toward Jane almost made me ill.

A shrill howl echoed in the forest somewhere close to me, about less than a mile. Shit. I recognized the cadence of that cry. Leah. That meant she now knew what was going on too.

I had completely forgotten that she would be doing a perimeter run.

_You actually intended to keep all this from me! I'm his sister...don't you think I deserved to know what's going on?! Leah's voice sounded stridently._

_I don't have time for this, Leah._

_I'm coming with you. Someone's gotta convince him that he's throwing away his life for someone who made it clear she doesn't want him._

_There's nothing you can say or do to prevent him from going. And she's pregnant...Aro will try to...you heard what Alice saw. You really want to convince him to stay when he could save her from that?_

_Even if that's...possible, he won't be able to save her Jake. He'll only get himself killed...if she's really pregnant then I'm sorry but my priority is to Seth...he wouldn't be able to stop this Aro..._

_That's why we're all going to help him. And he _cannot_ know about Jane right now. Are you in?_

_I will be there...but I will try my best to convince him not to go. You don't have to worry about me telling him about...her. _

I inherently knew that his determination would still be solid...that he would still go even if we held back this pertinent bit of info from him right now. Which we had to do completely...

Leah followed me back to the rez, bent on coming along with us as well.

* * *

The Cullens didn't seem that surprised when I showed up with Leah. As Emmett put it, she was an extra 'gun' that they wouldn't turn away. The fierce expression on Leah's face indicated that we wouldn't have been able to prevent her from coming anyway.

"I can't let my brother sacrifice himself like this." Leah said brokenly as we made our way into Forks Airport.

"We're all putting our necks out on this, Leah. We can't allow Aro to come here or create that army." Edward said in a low undertone as we made our way to the check in counter. "_Everyone's_ lives are in danger here."

Bella looked as if she wanted to say something as well but she pressed her lips together, glancing away from us.

"Seth's almost here now." Edward added then he winced slightly. "I can hear his thoughts." He said a split second before we saw him striding to where we stood. No way he could miss us.

"What are you guys doing here?" Seth asked exasperatedly. He looked really stressed out...these circumstances were so staggering, no one should have to deal with them alone.

"We're not letting you go off on a suicide mission, dude." Emmett grinned hugely. I glanced at him shaking my head slightly. I swear that guy could grin even if the world was coming to an end...once he got to fight something.

"What could you possibly be thinking, Seth?" Leah said harshly, folding her arms and glaring at him. And the sister hen lecture begins...

"Lee. Go home. Please." He answered quietly.

"We're not going to let you just kill yourself over her!" She snapped at him in response.

"I understand that you have to go there, man. " I said softly, glaring at Leah. "As your alpha, I fully support you in this..." I paused, one of my brows going up in agitation as I contemplated just what we were going up against. "She is your imprint after all. And you know I know that you'd do anything to...see her." See her? That was putting it mildly...

"Don't encourage him like that!" Leah seethed through her teeth at me. Seriously, she was sorely getting on my nerves... She had to be blind not to see that there was nothing no one could do to prevent Seth from going...and what's more that it was the right thing to do.

"Seth, do you even know where you're going?" Bella asked skeptically.

"I have a...general idea."

"The least we can do is accompany you there...and show you the way. We'll be close by." Edward said softly.

"I can't ask that of you...you guys have done enough. This is something that I think I should do on my own. All of you shouldn't risk your lives like this because I've made the decision to follow her there."

Geez, the guy was so independent minded...but no one, no matter how individually strong could face something like this alone.

"Funny how you two think so much alike sometimes." Edward said under his breath.

" I'm not going to sit and wait around for that. Not when she might...need me...they might try to hurt her...I just can't bank my hopes on something like that."

Edward and I exchanged anxious glances. If he only knew just how much Aro wanted to hurt her and by extension him...It always amazed me the intuitive connection that we wolves shared with our imprints. Even a vastly different, imprinted couple like Seth and Jane had that undeniable tie between them.

"She fucking left you, Seth. I'd say she wouldn't want you trailing after her like a lost puppy!"

"Leah!" I growled, reminding myself for probably the hundreth time since we left the reservation _not _to use my double timbre. "Shut it."

No matter how much he insisted though, we still went along with him, of course. Seth tried to convince me that we should leave Leah behind and though I agreed with him, I would only use my alpha status when and if it was absolutely necessary.

The hours seemed to be mere seconds while we were flying and then we were in Volterra Airport. I casually looked around not really seeing anything as my thoughts were on Renesmee now. And I felt immense relief that she was far away from all this. I couldn't wait for _this _to be over...I just prayed that we all pulled through this intact as we had the last confrontation...

* * *

I'd always wanted to travel but I never thought I would be speeding through the picturesque streets of Volterra at break neck speed in a Bugatti Veyron about to face off with the most evil vampires to exist.

Emmet had magnanimously let me drive while Edward drove the other car.

All too soon we had to abandon those beauties as we attempted to stroll at a normal pace.

"It's right up ahead of us now." Edward whispered. We soon converged on a wide public square that housed a majestic, grey stoned building. It was like a grand, frigging museum or something. How suitable. A museum of horrors. I shuddered slightly in disgust.

"Man, this is the mother of them all." I said, my eyes glued on the huge, gleaming dome shaped doors.

Bella and Edward exchanged a secret glance between them. Edward reached over to her, intertwining his fingers with hers tightly.

He explained in a hushed tone that the Volturi dwelled below the building itself. Seth wasted no time in darting towards the murky opening in the building which led to the fortress below.

"Seth, wait!" Leah said frantically, rushing up to grab him though he moved very fast. He moved just as fast as any vampire I had observed...and I marveled to myself of the power of the imprint connection. Normally a vampire's venom was poisonous to our kind yet her venom hadn't harmed him, it had enhanced him. As for her pregnancy...that was nothing short of miraculous...

Two shadowy figures emerging from the corridor snapped me away from my musings. As they approached closer, I stiffened in readiness. Glancing around the square quickly, I noted a few tourists wandering about. I doubt the Volturi would want to draw attention to themselves but I still prepared myself to assume a defensive position.

"Such a pleasant surprise that we meet again." The same huge one who had been in the forest, Felix, drawled smoothly, his eyes fixated on the Cullens as I drew closer to Leah and Seth. Edward, Bella and Emmett came to stand with us as well.

"Felix." Edward said quietly but there was no mistaking the subtle ferocity in his tone. Emmett pounded his fist against his hand, his face deadly serious for once. But the huge gopher, Felix ignored them as his red eyes drifted to Seth.

"And they brought their pets." The other male vampire said beside him. I tightened my hands, aching to punch that sneer more deeply _into_ his face. Who was he calling pet? Leah's thoughts were seemingly in league with mine because she growled, gritting her teeth.

"I request a meeting with your..._master_." Seth announced confidently. I had to hand it to him...he was really courageous to want to go down there. But I knew if I were in his shoes, I'd do the same thing...and if anyone wanted to harm Renesmee the way Aro wanted to harm Jane, I would go berserk...

"Seth, no!" Leah gasped.

"So you're the one..." The one called Demetri addressed Seth harshly.

"Only one of you is allowed within and that would be...the wolf." Felix uttered.

"The rest of you are free to leave..." He added, silently snickering a little.

"Seth...be careful." Bella whispered.

"Are you crazy! You are not going in there!" Leah shouted, grabbing onto Seth now.

I instinctively knew that her control was slipping now and that I would have to forcibly contain her before she blew our cover...

Seth's eyes met mine as he nodded at me.

"Leah.." I reached out to grab her when she moved to run after Seth when he let go of her.

"Jake, get your fucking hands off me. I'm not letting my brother go in there..." Leah screeched.

"Get the...girl under control." Felix hissed, stepping forward ominously. "We do not tolerate this kind of attention-grabbing behaviour so close to our fortress."

She could not phase here now. But the violent tremors would not abate in the least. When Emmett tried to help me hold her back, I knew she would phase right then. And we were still in the sight of people for heaven's sake.

"_Leah, we are going to leave here now!" _I intoned brusquely.

Almost immediately her struggles ceased, her phasing tremors abating gradually. I slowly let out a held in breath.

"We'll get her far away from here now, Seth...we'll take care of her." I told Seth. Last thing he needed was to be distracted in hell...

Leah turned away swiftly as Seth jumped down into the opening in the ground...and into the inner sanctum of the Volturi stronghold. _We'll be joining you as soon as possible, brother._

Felix and Demetri moved imminently toward us. Emmett growled, his tense, colossal body smoothly shifting into an aggressive posture.

Edward and Bella glared at them antagonistically. From the corner of my eye, I noted a couple not three feet away from us, obviously tourists as the man had a camera bag slung over his shoulder. They stared at us curiously where we stood in the corridor in aggressive stances. Then their gazes landed on Felix and Emmett combatively facing each other and they backed away then turned, walking quickly in the direction where they came from. Smart move...

"Leave. Now!" Felix exclaimed in a grating voice. Demetri bared his teeth in an evil grimace as he moved towards us, mimicking Felix.

Emmett started to lunge towards Felix but Edward held him back by his shoulder.

"There's no need to alert other people, we'll be leaving." Edward said. "I don't think you'd want to break your master's most important rule."

I knew Edward referred to the Volturi's stipulation that they must never draw the attention of _humans. _He was practically throwing that in Felix's face seeing how Aro was willing to break his most revered rule by seeking to create these...other wolves. These twisted versions of wolves that could prove to be uncontrollable...not that we'd be letting him live long enough to follow through with his plans.

Slowly we all moved backwards not taking our eyes off the two of them...then we walked out of the Square at a normal human pace. I could still feel the two Volturi vampires' cold gazes boring into our backs.

We soon left the vicinity of Volterra Square and walked further out into the city, now dark around us with nightfall. Strategically placed wall sconces lit the ancient stone walls of the buildings lining the narrow street with round splotches of yellow light that elongated our shadows as we walked past.

As we stealthily made our way back to where we'd parked the Bugatti's, Edward spoke swiftly into his mobile. Then he glanced at us.

"Their flight just landed. They'll meet us at the Volterra Saline-Pomerance, the Cecina Volterra Railway."

The time we had to breach a millenia old, Volturi ridden fortress just got a lot shorter.

* * *

**JANE**

The chill from the ancient concrete floor slowly seeped into my skin as I lay there in the deep blackness that suffused me.

I was clad only in a sleeveless white shift that reached just to my knees after having been allotted a few moments of privacy to refresh myself. My hands had been unbound and my cloak stripped from me yet my eyes had remained restrained. Of course.

Now I was in the cold cell again, lying there on the floor. I distractedly thought to myself that I had never felt this physically cold before. The thin material of the dress didn't help my increasing discomfort either.

Almost immediately after I had been shepherded back into this punishment cell, I had struggled to try and loosen the binds that held my hands together but to no avail.

As my struggles proved to be more and more futile, I had hissed in annoyance. This was so frustrating to just lie dormant...and chilled...while not knowing what Aro really intended and most of all not knowing how Alec was coping. I wondered if he suffered through the same circumstance as I did and I fervently hoped that was the least he endured. I couldn't think about Aro's threat to kill him...not when I was so helpless...I could scream with frustrated anger.

Yet I forced my lips to remain closed, wary of antagonizing Aro any further.

It seemed such a bitter irony to me that I had all that time before I had known..._him_...to be so brutal, unfeeling and cold...and now that I truly wanted to exorcise my inner demons and start over my existence on a fresh new note, I did not have any opportunity to do so now.

I wished my hands were free now if only to feel the links of the intricate necklace he had given me which hung securely around my neck. I hoped he realized that I loved him enough to let go...to not continue to selfishly disrupt the natural pattern of his wholesome life.

As I lay there on the ungiving concrete ground, I heard this strange thumping sound. As I slowly sat up, the sound trailed off. When I pulled my knees up to my chest and sat back against the wall, I heard it again. It sounded like a muffled beat of a drum, like something heavy hitting a soft padded seat in rhythmic intervals.

Then I realized the sound was coming from within me...and it was so inconceivable to me to pin point the obvious right then. I had been slightly fidgeting before but now my limbs literally went still with shock. All these 're-humanizing' changes had been steadily building up to this, the blood running through my veins, the blushing, crying _tears_...and now this.

It was a sound that I would not have been able to hear with my human hearing two hundred years before and I never thought I would hear anything like that now, as a vampire.

My heart was beating.

I inhaled sharply.

Then I heard the very subtle slide of someone's feet close to me. I stiffened when I felt hard cold hands roughly tugging on my hands. I opened my mouth to scream but one hand was clamped over my mouth tightly, effectively suffocating my impulsive cry.


	37. Chapter 37

**Author's Note: Thank you for your reviews! :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight**

* * *

**Chapter 37**

**JANE**

I felt a cold hand I knew definitely not to be Alec's pulling on the bindings on my hands.

"Hello love." A frisson of unease rose in my throat as I felt Demetri's cold breath hissing right at my ear. He slowly removed his hand from my mouth, pressing hard against my lips as he did so.

"We need to take her now. Lucy's waiting." I heard Heidi say sharply. Lucy was the human doctor who Aro had 'adopted' in his fairly new fascination with exploring the field of medicine. Why would they be taking me to her?

"Why did you untie her hands?!" Heidi snapped.

"I'm not carrying her, she can run with us." He retorted in a surly tone. "Besides, I want her to fight me..." He added in a low snicker.

"There won't be any time for your plans, Demetri." Heidi sighed.

I inhaled sharply to scream in a protest but Demetri clamped his hand over my mouth again, effectively stifling my cry. Grabbing my arms, they shepherded me out of the tiny cell. Swiftly and forcibly, they began running leaving me no choice but to run with them at the same blurring pace.

I heard the sliding movement of a door being opened then I was abruptly pushed down onto a hard bed. The sterile scents of the room indicated I was in the medical lab that Aro had painstakingly outfitted with every type of medical equipment and gadget he could possibly acquire.

I made to rise to stand but immediately I felt Heidi's hands grabbing my shoulders and attempting to forcibly push me back down. In my enforced blindness, my free hands unerringly shot out and enclosed tightly around her neck as she gasped loudly. With all the disgruntled oppression I had experienced for the past days, I could have rendered her headless with just my bare hands.

From somewhere beside me, Demetri grabbed _my_ neck, hissing ominously at my ear, "Let her go!"

Slowly, my tightening fingers loosened and I dropped my hands off her, breathing harshly.

Demtri's hands around my throat eased up fractionally. Then I felt one of his hands reaching further down to encircle one of my breasts. Immediately, I bucked furiously against him, seeking to push him off me. But his hand held me tight as his other hand squeezed my breast almost painfully.

"Get your hands off me." I ground out between my teeth. An intense surge of nausea rose within me at the feel of his hand squeezing me and at the proximity of his clammy lips close to my skin. My stomach heaved but there was nothing in me to emit but empty air. When the guards had brought a struggling person to my cell, I had railed at them madly, refusing to drink...I could only feel grateful at the time that they hadn't forced me...

"I wonder if I pierce your skin if it would bleed like a human..." Demetri whispered. "I imagine it would be like drinking wine...from a flower..."

"Demetri as much as I'd like to join you in this..." Heidi said smoothly, "...there's no time. Aro gave us our instructions! Re-fasten her bindings!"

"But she smells so alluring now...so irresistible...almost like a human but better." His too familiar whiny voice grated on my senses.

"Focus on the task at hand, Demetri! Let's get on with what we're supposed to do now!

"Fine then!" He responded sulkily.

I felt Heidi's hand caressing my cheek softly and sensed her face close to mine as she continued to whisper in a sing song voice. "I can't help feeling a bit regretful that I informed Aro of my...observation. It seems such a waste to kill such a thing... I wonder if _he_ would have this...effect on any other vampire..."

What in blazes was she going on about?

"Of course this is not something you would want to do. " She crooned softly. I gritted my teeth, twisting my face away so that her hand fell off where it had been cradling my cheek. "It's what you _must_ do...or your sweet lover will be killed. Orders from Aro himself." Heidi continued in her sickeningly sweet voice, giggling softly now.

"What are you talking about?" I hissed fiercely. These bindings across my vision were so frustrating to me!

"You really are unaware of your little miracle, aren't you?" Heidi added in a baffling tone.

I sensed someone else moving about the room now, most likely the human doctor Lucy and then I heard the clink of metal objects. What in the hell were they up to?

"A knife straight into her abdomen would have sufficed." Demetri muttered. "I'd like to be out of here before this...begins." He added sneeringly.

A deep suspicion was beginning to form in my mind now but I quelled the root of that thought before it could blossom. That was not at all possible...

"Of course, dear Demetri. As soon as she is bound securely, you can..." Heidi never finished what she had been about to say. She gasped sharply and Demetri loosened his grip from me.

I rose from my perch on the bed as I sensed Alec untying my eye restraints. My sight was returned to me as Demetri's, Heidi's and...Lucy's were taken away from them.

"Alec!" I exclaimed, slumping in relief. He didn't spare a glance at me as he resumed his concentration on keeping Demetri, Heidi and Lucy paralyzed so that they were involuntarily anchored in their varied positions of surprise and fear.

Then with calculated menace and with the same cold, ruthless demeanor he had used to physically destroy the Volturi's enemies, Alec dispatched Demetri and Heidi. I turned away as he did it, closing my eyes briefly as I heard the familiar snapping sounds of vampiric execution taking place.

I slowly opened my eyes to see...Lucy cowered with her hands over her face in a corner of the chilly, all white room, her senses numbed as she made incoherent whimpers. Alec advanced on her slowly. Avoiding the incapacitated bodies of Demetri and Heidi sprawled on the pale tiled floor, I rose fluidly, rushing up to clasp Alec's shoulder. He turned to look at me.

"Maybe we can spare her?" I said softly.

"Dear sister, you don't have a clue, do you?" In one lightening movement he crouched down and swiftly twisted her neck. I backed away slowly, covering my mouth with my hand as nausea surged in me again.

He turned to stare at me a bit strangely for a brief moment. I knew that he could hear this unbelievable change in me now...my heart beating again. Not only merely beating but thundering as if to make up for all the time it lay still and silent within me.

"We don't have much time. I was locked up as well. We have to move fast, escape from here before the others come in here and discover us." Alec said quickly.

"Alec, it won't be that easy!" I whispered frantically. "The guards will catch up to us and everything will be made more difficult."

"We'll have help!" He whispered back urgently.

We rushed out of there with blurring haste, Alec tugging my hand as he led the way and I wondered of this help of which he spoke. In a matter of seconds we were now in one of the many corridors leading out of the subterranean fortress we had lived in for over two hundred years.

* * *

**SETH**

I landed lithely on my feet into a crouch, straightening instantly as I peered into the darkened corridor stretching out before me. Immediately I went into a run, the pounding of my feet echoing loudly through the meandering tunnel like area. I didn't bother to quiet my approach. Felix had indicated I was expected, after all.

My jaw clenched as I contemplated how I would go about this meeting...confrontation... whatever it turned out to be. He wouldn't let her just simply walk out of here with me that much I knew. And that's if she would even...want to. But some deeply entrenched instinct communicated to me that she could be in danger...

Just ahead of me I could see a pair of doors now, an elevator. I punched the button impatiently, stepping into the cubicle. There was only one arrow which indicated that I was going further down into the bowels of the Volturi fortress...and I wasn't coming back up without her...

The doors slid open and I strode out of them, my strides long and sure as I observed a reception area now. It was eerily empty and I passed through cautiously out of another door which led me down a shorter corridor where there were two huge wooden doors just ahead of me.

I could detect numerous...presences just behind these large doors now and gritting my teeth determinedly, I pushed the antiquated doors open.

A long line of vampires stood facing me, I didn't even bother to count them_. _My eyes were immediately drawn to Aro. He sat before that large gathering of vampires, with his two ancient cohorts flanking him, his filmy ruby eyes drifting over me with sardonic assessment.

Then he _smiled._

I clenched my fists, a nerve wildly jumping in my tense jaw as I willed myself to keep calm. I valiantly reminded myself that I needed to make sure that she was fine...

"Welcome, my young one to Volterra." Aro said quite formally given the aggressive gathering just behind him. "I have been awaiting your arrival with bated breath."

I did not respond to his rigid politeness, my eyes darting about the still forms of the Volturi. I heaved a silent sigh of disappointment...she was not among those in this room. I felt completely out of my element here. I had to continuously quell the raging urge to phase a a result of being enclosed by these ancient stone walls and equally ancient stone...vampires. Jane might be a vampire, created by the very creature who regarded me with a display of cheer, but in all the aspects that really counted, she was nothing like them. Not anymore. This discomfort at being here was nothing to endure, not when I was so close to her now.

"To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?" Aro exclaimed buoyantly, leaning forward a little from where he was sprawled on his royal chair.

"I've come here to inquire about Jane...I'd like to speak to her."

"Why would you ever want to do that?" He creased his brows quizzically as he regarded me. I was not willing to play his evasive game.

" I believe she was forced back here..that she wants to leave but you won't let her!" I responded bluntly.

"Hmmm, such a bold accusation, my young, rash one."

"Where is she?" I growled.

"A little patience...you'll behold your...dare I say... love...soon enough."

I glanced at the two vampires flanking him. I remembered the blond one Caius having a lot to say during the confrontation in Forks five years ago but now he looked completely disinterested, bored even as Aro spoke to me. And the staid, black haired one Marcus was abnormally still yet I noted there was a certain energy radiating from him, his eyes were alive with some virulent emotion that I did not really focus on at this point.

"For now, let us get to know you better. I believe you are aware of this humble little talent of mine, dear boy."

Gritting my teeth, I reluctantly walked closer to him, putting my hand atop his with barely restrained violence. He grasped my hand with an avid anticipation that further riled me. I could picture myself all too readily phasing into my wolf unexpectedly and tearing his head off before any of his guards could react...yet I tamped down this innate aggression, not out of any fear of being killed but because I wouldn't be able to see her if I succumbed to my irrational urge to attack now.

Aro dropped my hand numbly, potent menace leaping from his red gaze.

Shit. He just 'saw' that didn't he?

I allowed the tremors quaking my tense form to increase steadily expecting him to command his gathering of guards to attack me at once.

* * *

**JANE**

As we approached a cross-way interconnecting the corridor to another, Alec came to an abrupt halt. I skidded to a stop beside him, glancing up at him with my eyes wide and my heart...thudding. What a strange feeling!

"We can't stop now, Alec!" I said breathlessly, wrapping my arms about my torso from the cold draft that drifted through the corridors.

"She's supposed to be here!" Alec whispered, his brows crinkling as his eyes darted swiftly about in the darkness.

"Who's supposed to be here?" I asked curling my bare toes as I hurriedly rubbed my hands up and down my arms.

Alec shook his head, his eyes darkening a little.

"Why isn't she here yet?" Alec hissed in frustration.

"Alec..." I was about to insist that we couldn't linger here even one second longer when _his _scent wafted to me. I felt my dark eyes dilate a little then cold, stark fear pulsed through me.

"_He's_ here..." I whispered. Without further thought, I twisted around, running back down the corridor at whooshing speed. Alec ran after me, whispering harshly, "Jane! What are you doing? We can't go back there!"

" I have to, Alec. Seth's in here."

My thin white shift molded itself to my frame as I sprinted with speedy intent. Crazy, suicidal wolf...what on earth was he thinking to follow me _here_ like this!

We had been so close to escaping...we could have actually made it out without my even knowing that Seth had come here...

I sensed him now in the grand room where Aro, Marcus and Caius royal dais was situated and where they held their tribunals. I veered towards the corridor that would lead me there now. The door came into my sight and my fingers reached out to touch the ancient, polished wood eagerly, a fleeting feeling of exhilaration rushing through me as with just one push of the door, I would be seeing him again.

* * *

**SETH**

The irate anger disappeared from Aro's face as he rose from his seat now. He watched me, smiling ingratiatingly again. Such a benign gesture seemed grotesque on his fossilized countenance.

Then the smile slowly dissolved from his face. His eyes widened as he glanced behind me and his jovial facade of just moments before disintegrated like paper on fire crumbling into dark ashes.

Her sweet scent assailed my nostrils and I knew she was standing somewhere right behind me. My chest rose in a deep breath and I felt as if I was finally breathing again. Slowly I turned to face her.

She stood just before the door looking at me as if I were an apparition. Her beautiful eyes were pure black. Beside her stood her brother Alec. His gaze darted anxiously about the room as he held himself tensely. Her eyes remained riveted to me. She did not even so much as glance in Aro's direction where he stood before the silent throng of still Volturi, seething quietly.

I strode determinedly to where she stood too far from me. I forgot about everything and everyone else...forgot there were numerous vampires in the room ready at any moment to kill me.

She lowered her eyes when I finally stood just before her.

"You shouldn't have come here." She whispered wrapping her arms about herself. She leaned towards me in a reflexive motion then sprung back quickly. Something was wrong. She was acting so stilted...Now she dragged her eyes away from me and glanced at Aro and the other vampires as if she were deathly afraid of them. I could happily kill them all just for causing that look of fear in her eyes.

Something caught my attention then as I stood there staring down at her. I could distinctly hear another heart thumping wildly besides mine but that was impossible. Not in a room full of eternally still hearts.

I looked around a bit confused. Was there...someone else in this place? But all I could sense was the cloying smells of the other Volturi.

Besides that wildly thumping heart that could beat my own thundering heartbeat in a marathon, I detected another subtle thumping, separate in its own fast rhythm and less intense than this other mysterious heartbeat. In fact, I had to strain to hear it, it was so light...in terms of sound and speed.

"Do you hear that?" I said, glancing around. All I could see and smell were vampires but there had to be someone else here...someone with flesh and blood. "Is there another...human in here?"

Jane raised her eyes to me. I could see that she fought to hold in her breath but that she _couldn't. _She couldn't stop breathing...because she_ needed_ to!

In a flash of understanding that was frightening in its intensity, I knew there was no human in the room. Because I fully realized that the sound of this wildly beating heart came from...her. And the other sound, that subtle, speeding thumping that sounded like the almost muted beating of hummingbird wings in flight...that could only be...

"My God..." I said slowly. I felt as if all my senses were undergoing a complete shutdown. Like a fully lit house that went completely and unexpectedly dark. That tiny heartbeat...her heart beat..._our_ heartbeat.

All around us the Volturi remained still and silent seemingly out of shock. Or maybe they were waiting for Aro's final gesture to attack. Whatever reason, I was glad for their rigid silence, glad that they were not rushing toward me in a frenzy of blood lust because I couldn't tear my eyes away from her at this moment.

My hand reached out and I placed it over her heart...her beating heart. The light slowly came back on bit by bit, flooding my crashed senses with clarity. My eyes held hers and I refused to let her go. My hand slid down to cradle her flat stomach through the thin material of the dress she wore. Her eyes widened as she stared at me. In that second as realization dawned bright and clear in her eyes, I knew she hadn't been aware that another heart besides hers beat within her.

"No!" She exclaimed suddenly in a loud, shrill octave that rebounded around the completely silent space. If I hadn't been rendered rigid with absolute shock, her abrupt, deafening protest would have made me jump out of my skin.

Before her loud denial finished echoing, I felt the stirring of monsters around me and I still wouldn't take my eyes off her. My hand still rested on her flat stomach...where I could hear this new heartbeat. Our eyes were locked together. Mines filled with awe and wonder...and hers with foreboding and fear.


	38. Chapter 38

**Author's note: I feel so terribly nervous each time I update a new chapter...needlessly so though because I have some of the greatest reviewers! : D Also to any fans of Aro...I'm so sorry! I do feel very...sad that I have to write this even though he was...well...evil...**

**I really hope this story hasn't been too...heavy...one of my biggest challenges is writing 'fluff'...and I do looove good fluff! I'll try to be bit fluffy in the future...**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything (A fact for which Aro's fans are probably really grateful!)**

**Chapter 38**

**JANE**

I shook my head frantically, closing my eyes tightly shut wishing fervently that I was human. A human who could open her eyes to realize that she was dreaming...

The damned thing was I wasn't truly human but I might as well be now. Those tears trailed down my face again as I carefully listened to that tiny beating within me. It was so slight in sound that the full, lush thump of my own resuscitated heart almost eclipsed it completely.

And I understood now what Heidi and Lucy had been about to do previously. They had been planning to forcibly abort my...I couldn't even say the word to myself, it was all too surreal. I didn't even know how to feel about...this...yet. But one thing I was certain I felt in this moment was an instinctive, intense rush of wrath.

_Under Aro's orders._ I raised my head slowly, opening my eyes and glaring past Seth as I looked at Aro wondering how he could have known even when I hadn't been aware.

Aro emitted a loud, rattled hiss when my eyes met his own, his sturdy frame a rigid line of rage.

I knew he had been angered when Alec and I came through the door having not expected us to escape so easily...how Alec had managed such a feat was still unknown to me. But that anger was just a feather compared to the solid weight of his apparent rage that his..._orders_ had not been carried out. His blazing eyes quickly moved from me to Seth then back again as he stood before his throne, his hands curling up into fists.

"Chelsea!" He bellowed as the guards fidgeted about in mounting agitation behind him. Chelsea darted out from behind the line of guards, coming to stand in the vicinity of Aro. Behind him I became a little distracted as I noticed Marcus smile slightly which shocked me somewhat. Marcus _never_ smiled.

Aro gestured with his head toward Alec who stood just behind me. I knew then that he was going to use Chelsea's power to weaken Alec's tie to me and to re-affirm his loyalty to him. He would use my own twin against me now.

Chelsea determinedly turned to face Alec staring intensely at him. Aro smiled grimly in anticipation. Chelsea turned to stare back to Aro, nodding and returning his sinister grin.

"Alec..." Aro said eagerly, inclining his head to Seth and me. Watching him command Chelsea and Alec as if they were mere puppets on strings revolted me...and to think not so long ago that I was just as inanimate and unfeeling...

Despite everything I was fiercely grateful that my strings to Aro and his twisted empire were securely severed.

I looked up at Seth, grabbing his hand. He was staring at me when I raised my eyes to his and I could almost touch the all-consuming devotion I saw reflecting in his dark chocolate eyes, could feel the jolt of electric energy connecting us. I took a deep breath, squaring my shoulders and looked at Alec. He advanced on us slowly, his eyes becoming misty as they lost a bit of focus. I could feel the tremors shuddering through Seth now where my hand grasped his tightly. I glanced back at him, even as Alec drew closer to us, shaking my head, hoping that he understood my silent plea for him not to phase. Seth nodded to me slightly and I turned to Alec now, my beloved brother who had just saved me from something unspeakable...

I didn't know how I was going to do this...how I was going to incapacitate my own twin with my power...I had _never_ used my power against him...had never thought I would ever need to. I didn't think I could despise Aro more than I did right now.

"Master..." Alec's glassy eyes turned to regard Aro as he stood just before us.

"Yes, dear Alec, do it now." Aro said urgently watching me closely.

He slowly turned to fully face Aro.

"Fuck you." Alec said calmly. Aro's eyes bulged out of their sockets.

"I've always wanted to tell him that." Alec muttered to himself.

Aro growled harshly. Then he turned furiously to Chelsea. "Why is he not doing as I say?!" Aro shouted at her, flinging his finger towards Alec

"Because he is free. We have been for a while now..." She said distinctly.

"Wh..what did you say to me?" Aro asked in disbelief moving toward Chelsea. "That's impossible...Corin..."

"Corin is dead!" Chelsea uttered harshly. "She cannot make me beholden to you anymore!"

"Corin is with Athenadora and Sulpicia in the North Tower!" Aro hissed stridently but his hands shook slightly and his mouth dropped open a little in his rising panic. I didn't think I was going to see his affected charade of cheerfulness for a long while again...

"If you and Caius ever bothered to check your wives once in awhile, you would have noticed Corin's...replacement." Chelsea sneered.

Caius hissed angrily, darting up from his throne. His eyes narrowed as he glared venomously at Chelsea. "Traitor!"

Abruptly, Alec began stalking towards Aro and Caius. I made to move after him but Seth grabbed my hand, holding it tight. "Restrain him!" Aro stuttered while Caius' clouded eyes widened with apprehension.

But Alec's power leapt out before the guards could reach him. Aro, Caius and the guards were frozen into place. Alec turned back to where I stood beside Seth.

"Get my sister out of here." He told Seth harshly.

"Alec, no!" I snapped.

"We'll need their help, Alec!" Chelsea said almost at the same time.

He shook his head, glancing back quickly at Aro and the guards. Strangely, Marcus seemed unaffected by his power as he sat there, staring at the motionless figure of Aro, his mouth twisted contemptuously.

A loud commotion just beyond the doors distracted me from the shock I felt seeing such an unusual expression on Marcus' usually inert countenance. Heavy footfalls resounded from down the corridor outside the great room in addition to the much lighter sound of vampires moving at incredible speed. Felix burst through the door, his voice snarling hoarsely with the force of his alarmed state.

"We've been breached!" He shouted.

Then he took one look at the unfolding situation and moved toward Alec. Chelsea tried to intercept him but with one swipe of his humongous arm he threw her to the floor.

Seth released my hand, stepping toward Felix as I cried out a warning to Alec too late.

Felix reared back his fist, punching Alec with resounding force at the back of his head. Alec crumpled to the floor and I began moving toward Felix but Seth darted ahead of me phasing in mid air. He grabbed Felix's shoulder with a powerful tug of his huge jaw, throwing him off Alec.

Felix flew back some yards, his body falling to the marble floor and making a sound like a sack of rocks hitting the ground from a great height. But he instantly stood up, moving toward Seth in a blur of speed and ramming head first into Seth's chest. He slid back on the floor, his paws making a screeching sound against the marble as he skidded back from the force of Felix's advance. Seth growled, shook his head fleetingly then reared back towards Felix but he had already grabbed Alec again as he stood up and now held him in a vise like grip about his neck. Felix saw me advancing on them and he swiftly maneuvered his hold on Alec to a death grip. With just one twist of his hands, he would incapacitate Alec.

I stopped immediately, my hands mid-air in agitation as Seth remained in an aggressive crouch, ready to spring at any moment.

With Felix holding Alec back, the binds of his sense numbing powers dropped away from Aro and the guards. Aro's eyes were evil incarnate as he glared at us.

"Get them..." He snarled.

* * *

**SETH**

I loped over to Jane, launching myself in front of her as the long line of guards advanced on us. Desperately I pushed her back gently as far away behind me as possible. Then I moved into a sprint, ramming headfirst into the approaching Volturi.

The line of guards broke their ordered formation falling back in sequence to scatter all over the floor. I growled ferociously as they regrouped coming at me again. I snapped my teeth together as they dived upon me.

I tore chunks of vampiric flesh with my teeth, swiftly flinging off as many of them as I could. In a miniscule second, my eyes darted to the spot where Jane was but she was no longer there. Frantically I looked around then I was buried again under a mountain of stone.

The impossible weight began to lighten until I was able to shake off the remaining few Volturi clinging to me. I raised my head to see Jake and Leah in their wolf forms together with the Cullens and their allies ferociously battling the Volturi guards. Carlisle and Esme were a lethal, efficient pair as Esme attacked and Carlisle protected her back, helping her to dispose of the unfortunate Volturi she targeted. Edward was close beside Bella as she implemented her shield while he, Emmett, Jasper and Alice alternately snapped limbs, pummeled rock bodies to bits and leapt on the guards to finish them off. Their friends Peter and Charlotte were just as effective in rapidly diminishing the number of Volturi guards. And Jake and Leah were practically having a vampire field day.

The Denali sisters made a beeline to where Aro stood staring in disbelief. Caius was stealthily backing away. Suddenly he turned to another doorway behind the throne area but Kate moved swiftly to propel herself in a motion of flight and landed to stand in front of him before he could go any further.

"Running somewhere?" She said, smiling menacingly. Caius hissed and slapped her hard across the face. Garreth growled loudly but Kate had already grabbed hold of Caius, her lancing power causing him to crumple to his knees before her. Tanya and Garreth advanced on him and while Kate immobilized him, Tanya with Garreth's help be-headed him cleanly and quickly.

It took me all of one, too long second to note that they didn't need my assistance right then.

I saw Jane flashing towards Felix who still held Alec in a death grip. I loped speedily after her, my powerful wolf legs reaching her side in no time at all. Felix saw us coming and his huge arms began twisting Alec's head...

Jane hissed harshly glaring at Felix. His hands loosened about Alec's neck and he slumped to the floor, his face frozen in a grimace of agony. Alec straightened the collar of his shirt, stepping away from Felix and Chelsea ran to him. He turned to her enclosing her to him tightly.

Jane still concentrated thoroughly on Felix while I kept any guards away from her that the Cullens and their friends with the help of Jake and Leah hadn't dispatched already.

Emmett suddenly whooshed to Jane's side placing his hand on her shoulder. "Allow me, little one." He uttered ominously.

Jane glanced at Emmett quickly and in that little time that her concentration broke, Felix rose to his feet already zooming in on her. I growled moving to intercept him but Emmett had already rushed headlong at him, his hands grasping at Felix's neck to drive him back...

Alec looked over at Jane and she stared back at him. They both turned to look at Aro. He was surrounded by the Denali coven, Edward and Bella as they prevented him from running from the room. I followed Jane closely as she and Alec parted the group to face Aro. There was a short, dark haired vampire slightly behind him, on his left side, her fingers lightly touching Aro's arm. She peeked up timidly at us as she had her head bowed. I noted a shudder shaking her small frame and then abject terror clouded her red eyes as she stared at Jane and Alec.

They were a sight to behold, my Jane and her twin brother, as they glared at Aro simultaneously. They both stepped towards him at the same time seeming to move in instinctive synchronization with each other without even being aware of it, their eyes wide with terrifying power...and the desire to use said power.

The little vampire squealed in a shrill note, her hand darting away from where she held Aro and she slowly slid away from him. Aro turned to stare at her the way one might regard a loathsome insect for a brief moment before turning his attention back to Jane and Alec.

"So...you'll annihilate the one who gave you life now?" Aro said, his voice rising dramatically to drown out the waning sounds of battle. "You will show no mercy for the one who saved you from being destroyed by fire..."

I growled softly as Jane cringed back against me. I could almost feel the invisible waves of the inner turmoil washing through her. Alec gritted his teeth, closing his eyes briefly before looking away. He turned to look at her where she leaned against me. She shook her head slowly, "I can't..."

"Neither can I..." Alec whispered.

"They won't end you..." The ancient lilt of Stefan of the Romanian coven resounded through the room as they advanced on us.

"...but we will..." Vladimir said. The tone and cadence of their voices were almost exactly the same.

Real fear entered Aro's cloud filmed eyes now as he slowly took a step back. Everyone moved aside as the two ancient vampires from a past era advanced on Aro. At this point, the little vampire who had stood behind Aro turned and ran towards the doorway that Caius had been about to escape into.

Aro backed away, his panicked gaze searching out Marcus who stood some feet away, his arms folded. He could have been watching at a bare wall, so disinterested was the expression on his powdery pale features.

"Brother!" Aro called to him. "Help me!" He reached out one hand towards Marcus as the Romanian coven continued to corner him into the wall.

Marcus' bored expression instantaneously transformed as his eyes met Aro's. Potent ferocity and mounting anger made his face into a twisted stone mask as he bared his teeth in a mirthless smile.

"Didyme had no one to cry out to for help when you took her life!" He said in a cracked voice, his tone was the sound dried out paper would make when shredded to pieces. Then he turned his back on Aro, the gesture punctuating the finality of his words.

"Brother..." Aro whispered staring at Marcus' back even as Stefan and Vladimir reached out for him. With a sudden feral growl, he turned to the Romanian coven and rushed at them in a frenzy. It was over very quickly. As he rushed towards them, one grasped his head and the other his torso and they literally ripped him apart...

Jane buried her face in the deep fur of my neck, clasping onto me desperately as a broken sob escaped her.

I couldn't feel any remorse for the ancient leader's demise but the grief claiming Jane now made empathy surge within me on her behalf. But finally...finally this could all be over...

The two ancient Romanians turned away from their brutal handi-work now. Stefan dusted his hands insolently while Vladimir dusted off his dark coat with deliberate petulance.

Everyone was deathly silent, whether with shock or some need to be reverently quiet for all the lives, no matter how corrupt, that had ended here tonight. The rest of the Cullens, their allies Peter and Charlotte, the Denali coven, Leah and Jake in their wolf forms were all standing behind us now. Behind them the great ornate, castle room was littered with the decapitated bodies of the Volturi guards as they lay still and silent on the stone floor in a sea of dark cloaks. And not one drop of blood marred the ancient room. I looked at the expressions of apprehension and anxiety on my family and friends' faces and I knew that this was a scene that would ultimately remain embedded in our minds for a long time to come...

Stefan broke the ensuing silence.

"Now that that's done with, time to continue settling our debt..."His shining red eyes landed abruptly on Jane where she clutched me, her face still hidden in my neck as her tears saturated my fur.

Vladimir nodded, his eyes meeting Alec's.

" ...as we do believe that _all_ the ones responsible for prematurely ending our empire should ultimately pay..."


	39. Chapter 39

**Author's note: Hey loves, finally updated...**

**Disclaimer: I am obviously not Stephenie Meyer (that brilliant author of my absolute favourite book series)**

**Chapter 39**

**SETH**

_There's a beautiful vampire dreaming in my arms...somebody pinch me..._

I leaned in closer to her, shifting myself as gingerly as possible so that I wouldn't disturb her as she..._slept_. She was cuddled against me, one small, pale hand gripping my shirt as her head rested on my shoulder. We were now on our way back to Washington, on the last stretch of our long flight. She'd been out of it since we'd lifted off. Now and then her dainty fingers would clutch me tighter as she alternated between low moans and whispering my name.

It was sort of enchanting to hear how many times she said my name in this unusual slumber of hers. Yet I hated that she might be distressed as indicated by her troublesome soft groans. Even in sleep, I needed her to be content. With curious adoration, I watched intently as her eyes made movements beneath her closed lids, her pale, long lashes fluttering against the tops of her smooth cheeks. I felt a surge of satisfaction that her eyes beneath her closed lids were now a sated, golden hue and no longer that thirsting black colour. That beguiling pink flush stained the ivory silk of her cheeks and her usually pale lips appeared more rosy, the deepening tint highlighting the delicate heart shape of her lush mouth.

My lips drew closer and closer to hers as my eyes remained riveted on her face but I forced myself not to touch her. Being this close to her without kissing her was like having your absolute favourite food, (in my case a gooey, double cheeseburger with all the trimmings) right in front of you without being able to eat it. It tugged and tugged at you, tempting you to indulge, creating an intense craving that needed to be satisfied. But she seemed to be so...exhausted. I wouldn't disturb her unless the plane was going down or something.

Inhaling deeply, I felt her subtly changed scent washing into me like the most tantalizing perfumed oxygen. She still possessed that lovely peaches and cloves scent, that bouquet of fragrant, fruity succulence combined with the heady, warm scent of spice. Yet there was another depth to her scent now, a new flavour that deepened her natural scent. Her skin still retained its cool temperature but when I gently laid my hand on her flat belly, I was somewhat surprised to feel the warmth there. With my enhanced hearing, I could detect that tiny heartbeat besides hers...it was so fast!

There was no doubt at all that she was pregnant.

But I mean..._how? _I wondered again in the state of amazement I had sustained since hearing that tiny heartbeat for the first time_. How could elemental biology apply to a couple like us?_ An abysmal sorrow engulfed me as I resolutely reminded myself not to get accustomed to this...this possibility. Shaking off my train of thought, I glanced over at the others.

Jake and Leah were just to the left of us, across the aisle. Leah was staring thoughtfully out the window, her nails snagged between her teeth as she bit down on them faster than they could regenerate. Jake was practically a live wire right now. His face was suffused with an energetic expression as his hands tapped a lively rhythm on his knees. He was anxious to reunite with Renesmee. Also, he was _elated _to say the least that we had managed to massacre the 'legion of Italian killers'. In his mind, we had finally erased the one, looming threat to his Renesmee, the one danger that had intruded on their happiness.

Where Jake was almost delirious with happiness, the Cullens however were almost the opposite, more particularly Carlisle and Esme.

There was an air of subdued depression that clung to the head Cullen couple as they sat together. Edward had told me when we were getting our connection from Florence to Washington that they felt extremely saddened to have to take such a bold step of eliminating the Volturi. They knew it had been necessary but killing brutally like that had went against everything they stood for. The Cullens were natural defenders, willing to defend and protect their way of life and their families as they had demonstrated five years ago when the Volturi had come to them.

What had made this so different for them was the fact they had been on the _offensive, _that they had initiated the first step that resulted in the Volturi's destruction. They had aggressively sought out the Volturi with the intent of eliminating them, never mind that Alice had foreseen their ultimate destruction if they hadn't taken such a bold and necessary step. The mere knowledge of so many lives lost at their hands was something that they could not easily come to terms with right away.

Edward had assured me that he and the others however, mainly Bella, Emmett, Jasper and Alice were fiercely glad to be rid of the Volturi once and for all. Though there had been some who had escaped and we would be on the look out for those who had.

We'd almost added those two ancient Romanians, Stefan and Vladimir to our list of...casualties.

When they had threatened Jane and her brother I had immediately tensed my huge wolf form, snapping my teeth together as I growled harshly. The Cullens had all stared at each other with sustained aggravation while Peter, Charlotte, Garreth and the Denalis had merely observed.

I felt Jane stiffen against me where her slight form was draped under me. Stepping slightly away from me, she glared at the two ancient vampires. I forced myself to remain where I was, knowing fully well how adept she was at defending herself. Within an instant Alec was by her side, grasping Chelsea's hand as she came to stand with him.

"Seriously, you guys really wanna take on these two?" Emmett said chuckling and shaking his head slightly.

The two Romanians hardly spared him a glance as they fixated all their attention on Jane and Alec.

"Even if you could overpower them, we won't let you!" Bella piped up ferociously.

"Speak for yourself!" Kate whispered grimly.

"Kate!" Eleazar's mate and the Denali 'mother figure', Carmen reprimanded.

"I've had enough of this!" Jane hissed. Then she stared hard at Stefan and he tensed, fully expecting to feel the scorching lash of her power. But he just stood there, evincing no sign of pain as Jane focused on him. To everyone's baffled astonishment, Stefan began to smile, practically sighing with contentment. Jane frowned now, gritting her teeth.

"Stefan! What is it?" Vladimir questioned anxiously.

"I feel this...this...soothing warmth! I haven't felt this kind of comforting warmth since...I can't recall..." Stefan said wonderingly.

"Aaaarghh!" Jane shrieked, tearing her eyes away from Stefan as he began chortling with unrestrained laughter.

"Look at the little witch's face!" Stefan brayed with amusement, his ancient accent bouncing off the walls of the morbidly still room.

"Jane?" Alec said questioningly, glancing at her quickly.

"I...I can't make him burn..." She sputtered. "I don't have my power...anymore..." She trailed off quietly.

Vladimir joined Stefan's annoying laughter now as they regarded us with renewed arrogance.

"I believe living without your power for all eternity should be punishment enough for you, you torturous witch!" Stefan hissed, smiling gratifyingly.

I growled harshly taking a few steps toward this Stefan. I instantly wanted to make him regret insulting Jane.

"Relax pup," Stefan drawled languidly, not in the least perturbed about my aggressive reaction. "I must say you did do a remarkable job of...thawing her out. Her lack of power now is absolutely...delightful."

"And makes settling our debt that much less of a chore." Vladimir added, smiling gleefully.

"You both forgot..." Alec snarled. "I haven't lost my power."

In the next moment both he and Stefan's mirth disappeared as they became absolutely still, their red eyes darting about uncomprehendingly.

Alec glanced around at us. "Will you help me destroy the last two remaining threats to my sister and I?"

"Alec, I don't think destroying them is necessary. They cannot overcome all of us." Carlisle said, his eyes wide with alarm most likely at the thought of more executions taking place.

"So what are we going to do, keep fighting?" Emmett asked. But even he appeared taken aback at the idea of killing again.

I growled, turning my wolfen gaze to Alec and taking a menacing step towards the Romanians. Anyone who had murder in their mind towards Jane was as good as dead to me. Alec nodded and we moved toward the still pair of Romanians.

"Do not destroy my executioners. At least not until they have ended me first." Marcus rasped suddenly from his quiet stance. I had all but forgotten about him, so still and silent he had become since Aro's demise. Alec stopped his advance though I still moved slowly toward them.

Jane stopped seething at the pair of blinded Romanians to glance at Marcus. "No..." She whispered.

"What do you mean by such a thing?" Alec asked.

"It is my time to die, my young ones. I should have been dead from the moment my dear Didyme departed this earth." Marcus glanced at Chelsea. "Now that I am no longer beholden against my will to anyone, I wish to end this life."

"Don't you have any will, any desire to reclaim your existence again? To see this new world through freed eyes?" Carlisle asked in a pained voice.

"No." Marcus responded simply...and resolutely. The last remaining ancient Volturi leader then explained to us in a deadened, hoarse monotone of Aro's brutal murder of his own sister Didyme, Marcus' wife...and of how a wolf had imprinted on her shortly before Aro had killed her. Thanks to Alec who had overheard Aro confessing to Caius, he now had closure on his wife's death...after one thousand years.

That was fucked up.

I was watching Jane closely. I could sense that she was near her breaking point by the way her eyes darted frantically about the huge room, watching the scattered, slain bodies of her former peers and the decapitated remains of Aro.

"I...I can't stand this." She said brokenly, backing away. Then she turned and fled. And I was right after her, loping on her heels as she ran through the dark corridor. Her vampire sprinting ability had not diminished with these new changes to her. She moved at top speed so that I had to work to keep up with her.

Suddenly she stopped at a turn in the winding hallway, pressing herself into the wall as her shoulders shook with the force of her sobbing. I couldn't abide seeing her this way. I trotted up to her, nuzzling her gently.

She spun around and shoved me away from her so swiftly that I hadn't even been aware of what she'd done until my wolf form made a resounding crack in the solid marble wall.

I stood up slowly on my long wolfen limbs, cautiously facing her as she stared at me, her hands lightly touching the walls behind her. She looked just as lethal as she had when I laid my eyes on her for the first time except where her eyes had been a blazing red now they were a deep black. It was hard to believe that had been just a couple of months ago. And of course there were other deeper changes to her that she hadn't possessed then. She was breathing quite heavily, and in my wolf form I could hear even more intensely now the exertions of her heart as it thudded within her.

I backed away slowly as she stared at me with that grief stricken, wary expression on her smooth face. Taking a deep breath, I allowed the hazy, soundless shimmer to engulf me then I met her eyes with my human ones. Her eyes were deep dark pools in the marble smoothness of her face. I couldn't remember ever seeing them so black...and what was even more worse to see was the abject fear shining out of her eyes as she looked at me. And I could all too well understand her fear...it was the same specific fear I felt, a fear of the unknown...

I took a cautious step toward her. Her cupid bow mouth parted, her small, white teeth bared in an aggressive grimace as she growled at me. "I don't want to hurt you! Stay back..."

"Jane, I..." I said, my voice trailing off uncertainly. There was no way I was leaving her alone when she seemed to be so unstable...I was afraid she'd do something reckless...like run away or something.

I wanted to tell her everything was going to be fine, that things would get better. But I simply couldn't say that to her not knowing for sure if that would be the case. Everything had been too much for her to take...she seemed to be really losing it now. She had never appeared more dangerous. Still I sought to offer her the only comfort I could now, to satiate her obvious thirst...if she'd let me.

"Come to me, baby..." I whispered deeply, spreading my arms open. I remained where I was watching at her intently as she continued to breath harshly. Her eyes never left mine as her heavy breathing gradually slowed down. Yet she looked so angry, gritting her teeth and clenching her small fists by her side. Slowly she began walking towards me and I gulped slightly. I knew if she attacked me, I would do absolutely nothing to defend myself. I would gladly be her punching bag, gratefully endure her frustrated wrath if that's what it would take for her to expend her grief and anger. It was an unhealthy stance to take but I would do that and more if only to ease her obvious pain...

She continued to scowl intensely at me as she approached.

Then she launched herself into my arms. Solidly grasping my shoulders, she pulled me against her in a tight embrace. Slowly I wrapped my arms about her, allowing a soft breath of relief to escape as she nuzzled her face into my neck. I expected to feel the sharp bite of her tiny teeth but she raised her head to look up at me.

"What am I going to do?" Her voice was as light as mist so soft was her tone. A deep frown creased the flawless smoothness of her ivory skin.

I reached one of my fingers to trace her frown lightly.

"_We_ are going to figure this out." I said gently. "Together." She clutched at me desperately as we stood in the gloomy stillness of the eerily silent hallway. She pulled away from me suddenly, her eyes meeting mine with escalating urgency.

"Seth, I am not human!" She said frantically. "I can't be who you want me to be...I can't be who this...what this...I can't be a mother! I...I just don't have anything like that in me...to give so selflessly to another..I can't do this..."

Her voice shook slightly and her eyes were wide with comprehending terror.

"Jane, no one's going to force you to do anything you don't want to do." I swallowed deeply, closing my eyes briefly. "I'm...not trying to change who you are...I love you just the way you are."

"And just who am I now? I'm changing so much I hardly know myself anymore!" She snapped exasperatedly, pulling her fingers through her pale hair that hung loose down her slim back. "So you love me?" She said now her voice ringing with skepticism. After all we'd been through, why couldn't she believe me?

"Yes. I do." There was no doubt in me whatsoever.

"Ok. Will you still love me if I told you...if I told you a part of me wishes Heidi and Lucy had went ahead with what they planned to do?"

I frowned not understanding what she meant. "What do you mean?"

She closed her eyes briefly then in a low voice, she explained further. "Heidi...and the human doctor Lucy... they were going to abort the...baby. I hadn't even been aware of such a thing yet...they were going to end my..." She took a deep breath, gushing out the word as she exhaled. "..._pregnancy_ as Aro had instructed them to do."

_Oh_. I involuntarily stiffened, my mouth dropping open. So that's what she meant when she said she wished...The tremors started deep within me but it was nothing at all to stifle my innate reaction. Because despite everything, her happiness was what was most important to me. And she was far from happy now.

"It...hurts me that you...feel that way. But if you fear this so much, I would support your decision. I need you to be happy Jane." I whispered.

"Seth..." She gasped my name as if she'd been punched, as if she was in pain. Then she moved out of my embrace, burying her face into her hands. "I'm so scared...so confused. I don't know what to do!"

"Baby, please don't worry about this anymore..not right now. Whatever...you decide...I'll be here."

"No Seth. You're going to hate me for this. I know it. I know you." She mumbled through her hands which were still pressed into her face.

"Don't say something like that to me, Jane. I could never hate you. We'll get through this together either way. You just need to give yourself a chance...give us a chance. Don't give up on me...on us. Please."

She raised her face from her trembling hands to look at me bleakly.

"There was a time I could make promises, Seth. I could make promises without one ounce of regret that I would be lying. But... I won't lie to you...so I can't promise you anything. All these changes happening to me...it's only physical...but I'm still the cruel, unfeeling, cold 'witch' that I've always been. And I believe I always will be..."

I knew she was deathly afraid just as I was but I would not allow her to wallow in self deprecation though. She had darted back away from me as she murmured in a panic so I stalked toward her now. She glanced up at me in surprise when I grasped her shoulders firmly. I stared down unrelentingly at her, holding her eyes with mine when she would have looked away. It amazed me how I was able to do that, to capture her gaze with my own. Amazing how she seemed to have no choice but to willingly succumb to the pull of emotions between us. Some might call it controlling but if that was the case, she controlled me in much the same way.

"No, you're not!" I said harshly to her now. "You're not as...evil as you're making yourself out to be. And I think you know that. You'd rather believe the worst in yourself than really acknowledge the changes inside of you..."

Her eyes in their deep darkness had been blazing with agitation but now I saw all the fight going out of her as her gaze softened. She sighed quietly, reaching her slim hand to touch my face. I placed my hand over hers as we continued to look at each other.

Everything had happened so quickly, she hadn't even had any time really to digest it in. I knew this was her primary reaction to the situation. Maybe she was acting in shock and disbelief...or maybe this was really how she would continue to feel. I couldn't know at this point. What I did know for certain was that I would support her fully in whatever she wanted to do...even though her ultimate decision could cause me immense pain. And it would cause her pain as well no matter how unfeeling she considered herself to be. She figured herself to be so unchangeable and evil...well, I felt just as evil as she did because selfishly I wanted her to remain with me _at any cost_. I wasn't giving up on changing her mind though. I'd do all that I could to steer her away from that course yet ultimately I wouldn't force her to do anything she didn't want to do.

"You make me want to be a good person, Seth, truly you do. But I'm afraid that's impossible..." She whispered against my neck.

* * *

"Seth..." I snapped out of my vivid recollection when she murmured my name. Yet she was still fully immersed in this exhaustive sleep as she shifted slightly. I felt myself being drawn back again to the last couple of hours we spent in Volterra.

In the end when we had to make sure to eradicate the bodies, she became so agitated that I had to spirit her out of there. Carlisle and Bella in particular insisted that she shouldn't be there while they removed all evidence of what took place.

As for those two ancient Romanians, Stefan and Vladimir, they had been immensely 'delighted' to exact revenge on Aro and Caius for overthrowing their empire millenia ago. They made it clear that any desire they'd harbored to rule another empire was now irrefutably lost as they were wary of this era and time. They wisely heeded to the fact that their ancient philosophies and customs would not thrive in this modern world as it had eons ago in their archaic one. But they had been all too willing to grant Marcus' wish to be slain.

Carlisle and Eleazar had tried to put a stop to that. They insisted that Marcus had done no wrong and being suicidal wasn't justification for coldly killing him. And this debate opened up a whole new slew of questions, the main one being, who was going to 'govern' the vampire world now that the Volturi empire had been toppled?

It was something that they decided to leave for a later date when all the known allies were gathered, when they had more input from other vampires. But no one at that point, wanted the monumental task of governing their secretive vampire world.

However there was nothing Carlisle, Eleazar or even Alec could say to convince Marcus to attempt a second chance at his immortal life. So the Romanians gleefully killed him after he made them vow that they would leave Jane and Alec in peace. I wouldn't put my confidence in that vow though even if the Romanians seemed affronted when Alec questioned the authenticity of their vow. They insisted that once they vowed something it was as good as done as in the olden days vows were considered sacrosanct. I respected ancient principles, it was just them I didn't trust.

I had felt more remorse at Marcus' death out of all the Volturi though I didn't know him at all. It seemed honorable to me that he would extract such a vow from the Romanians before his demise. And I felt indescribable compassion for his loss so long ago...the loss of his wife...who had been the imprintee of an ancient wolf but had fought that connection because her love for this Marcus proved to be stronger. I shuddered to myself as I contemplated the complications that would have arisen if Jane had been in love with one of her Volturi vampires before we met. We had a whole lot on our plate but I was fiercely glad that was one scenario I didn't have to sink my teeth into...because in all likelihood I would have _ended _whoever that poor sap might have been, no matter the empathy I felt for Marcus now.

We'd left the fortress intact save that for erasing any sign of vampires from its walls and eventually the Cullens had gone their separate ways from the nomads, Peter and Charlotte, and the Denali coven, taking different routes to return home. Her brother Alec and his mate Chelsea decided to come back to Forks with us to lend support to Jane. They were taking a little detour first though and we all felt a bit reassured when they emphasized that they wouldn't be going on any rampage or anything of the sort. Alec and Chelsea made it clear that they fully understood the importance of not drawing undue attention to themselves...and they were intensely ecstatic to be free of Volterra.

The Romanians had decided to linger in the fortress to glean any knowledge that Aro had gathered, their fixation mainly centered on the Volterra library. I remembered Jane telling me that was her favourite place to be when she'd been living there...

It was killing me that during the mundane routines of securing our flight that she was no more than a walking robot, refusing to respond to any of our concerned queries. At least she allowed me to touch her, to hold her hand... but it was like guiding a statue.

A stunningly beautiful marble statue who seemed to be broken inside...


	40. Chapter 40

**Author's Note: Ok, I promise this is the _last_ cliff hanger in this story. The end is looming near...A huge, heart-felt thank you to all my reviewers. It isn't quite the 'end, end' yet so I'll keep this note short for now ;)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight**

**Chapter 40**

**JANE**

"Oooh cold!"

I hissed automatically at the feel of the gel like substance Carlisle rubbed into my stomach as he prepared to do an ultrasound. Seth held my hand in his while I lay back on the medical bed. Since this...development, I was much more sensitive to cold and hot temperatures. Overall I was much more _vulnerable. _I still felt a virulent anger at the seeming loss of my power. Something I didn't think I could ever come to terms with.

"Sorry, Jane." Carlisle said politely. Then he moved the ultrasound probe over my stomach. I shuddered internally as I contemplated the possibility of the concave, marble- like skin swelling like some sort of concrete balloon. My apprehension was I believed, one of valid concern and not born from conceit. I mean, wouldn't my skin splinter with the steady _stretching_ that was required to accommodate this...pregnancy? Not that I had fully decided yet. But I knew I didn't have much time in which to make this decision.

"Wow..." Carlisle said as he stared at the display screen of the machine.

"What is it?" Seth asked anxiously.

"I can see the fetus." He said wonderingly. I felt a contradicting combination of relief and sorrow when he said 'fetus' instead of baby. I'd heard enough of that baby talk from the others specifically Rosalie, Bella and Esme. For a fleeting moment, I just wished I could view this in the same way they did... as some type of wondrous gift. But I just...didn't. I knew my reaction was inhumane even for a vampire yet I hated feeling afraid...and vulnerable.

"I wasn't really expecting to but I'm glad now I conducted a routine ultrasound. Carlisle said. "Our skin is normally so hard that procedures like these cannot penetrate the skin layer. But I can see the fetus normally as if you were..."

"Yes, yes I know as if I was human." I interrupted snappishly. Of course, I could count on my vampire body to betray me. Blood circulated through my system, I cried_ tears_ and my heart beat...so of course it would certainly be plausible then that my skin would become more pliable as well.

Sighing softly, I glanced away a bit sheepishly when Seth and Carlisle turned to look at me.

Then something else broke the brief silence in the room. That rapid thumping of that new heartbeat in me was amplified by the probe pressed to my stomach. I watched a smile spread across Seth's face and a bittersweet feeling of part dread and part exhilaration washed through me.

* * *

We sat side by side again facing Carlisle where he sat behind his desk as he explained his approximate diagnosis to us. He didn't even have a solid example to go by for my particular situation. Bella had been human when she had conceived Renesmee and Edward of course had been a vampire. How ironic that I, Jane Volturi, former offensive guard, would be the first known female vampire to get knocked up by my Quileute wolf lover...Emmett had quite eloquently introduced me to the term 'knocked up' and all its lovely implications.

An irritating flashback of Emmett thumping Seth on his shoulder and _joking_ with him about this played through my mind again.

"Amazingly, the ultrasound is showing the normal progression of the pregnancy at about two weeks which is the time from conception, right?" Carlisle said.

"Uh, yeah." Seth answered when I remained silent.

Did _everyone _have to know when we had sex?! I knew I was perhaps being a bit immature, after all Carlisle practiced medicine. It was a clinical, routine question but I was becoming really irritated as we sat here. Sitting dormant was strangely the last thing I felt like doing. I had the distinctive urge to keep moving, maybe even running...not running away just running as if I didn't have a care in the world. The only way I would run away was if he was right beside me. But we just couldn't do that right now...

"I believe this pregnancy could be as...normal as a human one. The fact that we can hear a heartbeat at this stage and that the ultrasound was able to penetrate your skin are indicators of that. It also means your membrane has softened to a human level which is why I have been able to detect the stage of the pregnancy. What I think happened is that Seth's blood re-activated your system Jane. The blood circulating in your veins and the eventual resuscitation of your heart...all these occurrences were the result of Seth's blood re-humanizing you." Carlisle's expression was one of outright awe. "To the point where you could carry a child..." He said, an amazed smile touching his benign features. His exuberance was kind of endearing.

"So...I wouldn't have become pregnant if I hadn't drunk Seth's blood?" I asked bluntly, trying to stifle the foreboding I felt at the thought of what I might do.

"No, I don't think you would have. But it is like an addiction isn't it? The only conclusion I can come to is that the imprint connection between you two is potently powerful...you craved his blood and his blood changed you...it's effect is like a reversal of the effects of the venom in your system. Which could explain why you were developing all these human characteristics again."

I noted that he didn't specify if this...re-humanization thing would be temporary because of my condition...or permanent.

"_Lovely._ I'm a wolf vessel now." I snapped. Then regretted my thoughtless words instantly when I glanced at Seth. He flinched a little then glanced away. I had hurt him with my careless words.

"Seth, I'm sorry..." I whispered. He swallowed deeply , pausing a few moments before answering me.

"Is that how you really feel?" He responded quietly. His face was still turned to the window as he stared unseeingly outside.

"Look at me, please..." I whispered. He slowly turned his head to look at me, his hand reaching up to gently swipe at the corner of my eye. That's when I realized I was crying. Again. I swear since I started crying tears, I could fill all the baths in this house with my consistent deluges.

Enough.

Enough of feeling sorry for myself. Not when I had such an amazing man beside me. Losing my centuries old home had been hard...but I knew losing Seth would be indescribable. I didn't think I could survive that.

Yet I didn't think I could be a mother either.

Seth stood up suddenly. I looked up at him as he met my eyes briefly. "Can I talk to you outside?" He asked softly.

I was swallowing deeply with apprehension now. He didn't wait for my response, he just moved toward the door and out of Carlisle's medical room.

I watched the door swing shut behind me. Then I darted out of my seat, seeking to move after him.

"Jane." I glanced back at Carlisle as he sat there studying me gravely.

"Remember, he's never been in this kind of situation before."

I heard the true words behind his calm statement. He was warning me to take it easy with Seth. And I felt ashamed that he had to say something like that to me. Despite what happened, I loved him...and I didn't want him to be more worried about me than he already was.

I nodded then ran outside to meet Seth.

I practically bounced into Edward in the hall outside Carlisle's office.

"That's not only what he meant, Jane. He's concerned for you, too." He said softly. I shook my head slightly, not stopping my fast walk to meet Seth outside. From somewhere behind me, I heard Rosalie approach.

"Rosalie, please this isn't really any of your business." Edward said.

"Like it's any of yours?" She retorted back.

"Seth's my friend..." The rest of Edward's words tapered off as I rushed outside.

I followed his scent easily through the trees. He stood still with his back to me, his arms folded against his chest.

Approaching him tentatively, I deliberately slid my feet against the soft undergrowth so he'd be aware of my presence even though that was unnecessary with his attuned sense of smell.

"Seth, I shouldn't have said what I said back there." I began hesitantly. "It's...well I'm just a bit frustrated right now...I couldn't conceive..." I choked on the word. "...I mean I didn't know anything like this could happen."

He resolutely remained silent, not moving an inch from his wide legged stance as he stared out into the dense woods. I stood a little distance behind him, my eyes glued to the rigid muscles of his broad shoulders that tapered down to his beautiful back...I took a deep breath, trying not to become distracted by his body. Such a sculpted work of art...literally hotter than any damned statue. Grrr, stay focused, I scolded myself mentally.

"Please, say something..." I whispered.

"I'm really fucking _angry _at the moment, Jane." He said huskily, still not looking at me.

"Angry?" I said bewildered. His admission was unexpected.

"Yes. Angry. As in I could clear the forest for miles of everything right now."

"Seth, you wouldn't do that." I muttered meaninglessly. "You love the forest too much." I finished weakly, my lips barely moving at all.

"Well, you can love something a whole lot but that doesn't mean it can't make you mad as hell." He said in a low, hoarse voice. He dropped his hands to his side, his fists clenching tightly. I dragged my eyes away from his long, sturdy fingers as his words resounded through me. I knew he wasn't referring to the forest now.

"You're angry at me." I stated the obvious. "You're angry at me for my decision."

He turned to me then looking me right in the eye. "I'm not angry at you exactly. Well, maybe I am a little. And I...I hate that this obviously distresses you. And I feel like it's my fault."

I desperately looked away from his intense, penetrating gaze, gasping softly as I tore my eyes away from his. Determinedly I stared at the leafy ferns swaying in a drafty wind. It didn't help that the wind wafted his woodsy scent to me even more, making me involuntarily inhale deeply. Acute pleasure drifted through my frame as his scent filled my lungs which now needed the air I took in measured breaths. Instinctively I tried holding my breath so that I wouldn't be tempted by him again. But my chest ached with my attempt until I had to gulp in a breath hastily. I became annoyed that I couldn't re-capture my vampiric capacity as I had so easily before.

"You know you need to breathe now." Seth said, the corners of his mouth turning up suspiciously in an amused smile as he watched me closely. His statement made the brief heat of my annoyance quickly rise to a burning rage. I felt instantly angered that he didn't have to sacrifice any of his abilities while my power decided to take a leave of absence in order for this new circumstance to become my main preoccupation. Even though I knew it would be useless, I tried to reclaim my draining vampirism. I inhaled a large breath and didn't let it out.

Not even when I felt the discomfort in my chest increasing to an intense ache did I open my mouth to breathe. Seth's eyes widened in alarm as he realized what I was trying to do. He stalked up to me, grabbing my shoulders and shaking me slightly.

"Jane, you need to breathe!" He said urgently. Little black spots began to intersperse my vision now. Well at least I seemed to have my vampire sight still...until a few moments ago at least. He shook me more vigorously now.

"Stop this." He shouted at me.

I swayed as the black spots grew larger. Then I felt Seth's strong fingers grabbing my chin and then his lips was smashed against mine with aggressive intent. His tongue firmly parted my lips as his mouth claimed mines harshly. I involuntarily gasped into his mouth, moist heat flooding me as I grasped onto his arms automatically. This wasn't his familiar tender, drugging kiss but a ferocious claiming.

For a few moments, I kissed him with the same fierceness as he kissed me. My tongue tangled with his as I tasted him fully. Mmm...all wet heat and cool mint. His mouth softened against mine, decreasing the mad tempo of our kiss as I sighed softly against his lips. He slowly lifted his mouth from mine to stare intently at me. Pacing backwards from me, he put a few feet of space between us. I breathed heavily now, raising my eyes to meet his searing ones as he raked his hand through his ebony hair haphazardly. His hair had grown back out again, not long but not as closely cut either. Just the way I liked it...

"Damn it Jane, don't do that again!"

All my irritation and annoyance reached a boiling point again at his curt command.

"Don't tell me what I should or shouldn't do, Seth Clearwater!" I snarled. Without really thinking about it, I spontaneously rushed towards him, tackling him to the forest floor. All I saw was the bewildered expression on his face before we both toppled down. I immediately grabbed both his wrists in my small hands attempting to keep him down on the ground with sheer physical strength. But he just lay beneath me staring up at me with that perplexing frown on his face.

"Fight me, dammit!" I growled.

I felt his hard body tensing against mine but he infuriatingly remained still. "What's gotten into you?"

"What's gotten into me?" I laughed hysterically, feeling on the very verge of insanity. "You! That's what..and now I'm in a position where I'm losing everything I've known about myself and taken comfort in...and it feels..." I stopped abruptly, breathing harshly. It felt good to be here like this with him. Our eyes met and I felt the thrust of his hips against me. No, I wasn't going to let him distract me again. He was angry? Well, not as much as I could be.

I deliberately squeezed his right hand aggressively in my grip. A brief spurt of satisfaction trilled through me as I heard the small bones in his hand splintering. I still had my vampire strength.

He winced but firmly kept his mouth shut, biting down on his full lower lip.

"Fight me!" I whispered roughly.

"I couldn't fight you.." Seth rasped through gritted teeth, gazing up at me where I leaned, perched over him. "...anymore than I could rip out my own heart."

Instinctively, I placed one of my hands over his thunderously beating heart. Out of habit my fingers curled reflexively into claws. I knew I still possessed the strength to actually dig my fingers through his skin so that I could so easily claw his heart out through his chest. As I had done occasionally during my tenure in Volterra to the most unfortunate of victims. Remembering that made the nausea rise intensely within me. I felt mentally sickened at the scenes I had all too willingly indulged in while at the pinnacle of my tenure there. Lying down over him amid the thick forestry of this tiny town, I could hardly believe how mindlessly cruel I had been. As my mind drifted the tips of my fingers dug into his skin but the sensation of his heated skin beneath my hand in such a manner snapped me out of my reverie. I glanced into his eyes. His expression held not one hint of fear as he regarded me calmly.

I moved to scamper off him but he reached up his hands to my waist, holding me still. Even with his injured hand, I couldn't move from where he held me poised atop him.

"Seth, let me go! I am so sorry..."

"You won't really hurt me. Even if you did, I could deal with that...but I can't deal with you hurting yourself." He whispered. Right then I realized he had more faith in me than even I did in myself.

I stopped my struggles against him, closing my eyes briefly. After all I'd done to his life he still cared so much about my well being to the point where he would endanger himself to protect me. Even from myself.

I couldn't forget for a moment that he had followed me to Volterra...and how close I'd come to losing him. A violent shudder traversed my entire body as I remembered the very second when I'd barged through the ancient, familiar doors to behold him standing before Aro and his massive number of guards. Standing there defenseless and vulnerable...because he followed _me_. Never had I known such a depth of fear not even when the soldiers had confiscated Alec and I so long ago in our human lifetime to carry us to be burned at the stake.

How much would I continue to push him? What again would I involuntarily do for him to show me how far he would go for me? No one could have broken through my menacing barrier the way he had. When I first met him, in my jaded fury I could have killed his entire Quileute family with a happy tune in my heart. But now I wanted to embrace this new, emerging chapter of my life...to continue life with him.

And to bring forth this miraculous new life in me.

But I was still scared...so scared...

"I don't deserve you." I said softly. "You're the strongest person I know." He truly was. He had a powerfully strong mind and heart untainted by anything even remotely evil.

"I'm just an average man, Jane. Give or take a wolf shape shifting tendency." Seth chuckled. "An average man who loves you like crazy."

"There's _nothing _average about you." I said with a sly smirk. That heart tugging grin suffused his face and with one finger I traced the shape of his smiling lips.

I knew he loved me. He had demonstrated that to me more than I could ever have hoped for. What I couldn't understand was how...how_ he _of all people could love someone like _me._ A bred and instinctive killer.

"When I look at you I see a purely good man who should have a full, happy human life." I said seriously, the teasing smile melting off my face."You should be embracing life, Seth, living it to the fullest not be shackled to someone like me."

"Jane from the moment I started phasing, I knew I wouldn't be having the 'normal' life that you seem to think is best. I don't consider us being together as any kind of burden..."

"I only want you to be happy." I said firmly. "You're so...young. What if you wanted to be with someone else?" Suddenly I couldn't look at him as I contemplated such a thing. I averted my eyes away from his though I remained draped over his sturdy frame where we still lay on the ground. And I couldn't help the thought that he should be with someone as pure and wholesome as himself. Which was the total opposite of what I was. I couldn't swallow past the sudden huge lump in my throat. His tender fingers tilted my chin so that I was looking at him again.

"I am _in _love with you, Jane. And there's nothing else in this world that can make me more happy than sharing my life with you. There's no one I would want more than you."

I shook my head, shivering slightly when his warm hand caressed my chin then trailed down to the column of my neck.

"Don't be afraid. We'll get through this together...we're worth it, baby." He said gently.

I shook my head in a growing panic. "Seth, please just...give me a little time, ok? I...there's so much to grasp now. The Volturi being destroyed, Aro's death..." I glimpsed the set look that came over his face. "Despite everything, he was my maker, Seth. And I just can't brush aside his death so easily even though...even though he wanted to harm me like that. " I sighed. "He certainly hadn't thought of anything that didn't cross my own mind."

"I don't expect you to get over his death just like that, Jane. But don't compare yourself to him..."

"Seth, two centuries of practically being a cold blooded assassin does not just literally disappear in a matter of weeks."

"Ok then tell me this. Can you see yourself killing Alec for something as elusive as dictating power?" I knew he referred to Aro's ancient act of how he murdered his own sister dispassionately as he thought she had been a threat to the young Volturi empire then.

"No. But that's different. I never really desired that kind of power."

"You're capable of intense love. I can see it in your eyes when you look at me. Something Aro, in all the time he had lived, never was. Even after two centuries in hell, you've become like an angel to me. My angel."

It was still disconcerting, even after how close we'd become to each other, that he could read my emotions so easily in my eyes. For as long as I had been a vampire, I had always quite successfully managed to hide my volatile thoughts without letting them show on my face. Of course, I had never experienced such a depth of emotions in my long years of existence as I had during my time with him.

We'd changed each other so radically and as a result became so intimately intertwined in all aspects of our relationship.

But he was wrong about me. I was certainly no angel...but I could truly believe that he was. He was like my own guiding angel and I wondered at the mysteries of fate that would bring us together like this. I experienced a deep rush of gratitude for the mythical imprinting connection that we shared...that gifted me with such an amazing person. Who I still felt like I didn't deserve.

His hand drifted down to my stomach, lingering over my lower belly where the tiny heartbeat was the strongest. I closed my eyes for a moment, savoring his warm touch. Inhaling deeply, I opened my eyes to look right into his heated gaze. He spoke softly,

"I don't know what the future holds...but I know I'll love you for how ever long forever lasts." His quiet conviction made tears spring to my eyes. My hand trembled slightly as I slowly raised it to cradle his face.

"Well, you've got your darned work cut out for you." I muttered, trying in a subtle way to blink back the tears.

"I'm looking forward to that." Seth grinned, his good hand reaching out to grasp my hip. Heated blood rushed to my face as I fought hard not to smile. Then I just gave up the battle, grinning back at him unabashedly.

The grin slipped from my face as I soberly wished this one moment could just go on endlessly. I poured every great sensation he had ever elicited in me into what I told him next. Even in two months, those sensations seemed to be enough to last a lifetime already.

"I love you, Seth."

He smiled my favourite smile, placing his hand over mine where it rested against his chiselled cheek. The sun beams broke through the cloudy sky as we lay there in the ferny tall undergrowth simply staring into each other's eyes.

* * *

The next thing I knew I was lying down on the large soft bed at the Cullens. I sat up quickly, looking around. I sighed with disappointment when I noted that I was alone. Then I frowned as my mouth involuntarily widened. It wasn't an action I could control. Ughh...another human mechanism. Seems like I had fallen asleep and Seth had brought me back here.

There was a slight knock on the door. I sensed it wasn't Seth and then the familiar scent hit me fully. I rushed excitedly to the door, almost yanking the whole frame out of the doorway in my anxiety to get it open. Then I fell into his arms, grasping him to me.

"Alec!" I cried. He pulled back to look at me.

"Jane, how are you?" He asked seriously, peering at me.

"I've never been better." I said irrepressibly. He frowned even more and my smile faded a little. Linking my arm with his, I drew him into the room with me. We sat down huddled side by side at the edge of the bed. "How long have you been here?" I asked curiously.

"Not so long...I didn't want to disturb while you..._slept._" Alec said his eyes still regarding me in a perplexed manner.

I ducked my head, hiding my face a little. "Uh, thanks."

"Jane, first of all I would like you to know that if you want to leave here and come with Chelsea and I, we would fully support your decision. Do not feel pressured in any way to do anything you're not ready for."

I heard Seth's distinct growl from somewhere downstairs. Alec scowled, folding his arms.

"You don't have to stay with him as I quite bluntly let him know." He said quite distinctly, no doubt for Seth to hear as well.

"You two...talked?" I asked, my voice sounding shrill even to my own ears.

"Yes, I spoke to the dog." Alec said dismissively.

"Alec." I reprimanded. "His name's Seth and I'm _not_ leaving him."

Not ever, ever again.

"Why not? We can do whatever we want now, well with the exception of revealing our nature..and killing indiscriminately. Why would you choose to remain with him?"

"Alec, I...I want to. Just forget it, ok?"

"Is it because of the...you know...this fluke?"

"F-fluke?"

"Jane, Chelsea and I can help you if you don't want to go through with this."

"I love him. And this is our decision, Alec. So stay out of this!" I hissed, darting away from where I had been sitting beside him to stand up and glare down at him.

"Jane. I'm...just scared for you." Now was not the time to tell him that I was infinitely scared too.

"Don't be, please. Everything will work out." Alec glanced at me skeptically. "Where are you and Chelsea headed to?" I asked blatantly trying to steer the course of our talk away from the direction I could see it heading.

"We're going to travel a bit." Alec stared at me. "I don't want to lose you." He wasn't averted by my attempt at changing the subject. He grabbed my hand and pulled me back down to sit beside him again. I sighed.

"You won't. We'll always find each other, Alec. No matter where we might be."

"But what I really meant was what if by being pregnant like this you are losing your immortality? What if you never get it back, if you become...human?"

"I don't have an answer to that. But what I do know for certain is that there's nothing that can stop me now from being with him. And there's nothing else I want more. I'd rather have one human lifetime with him than spend eternity without him." I said painstakingly to Alec as he raised his eyes to the ceiling with exaggerated exasperation.

"I'd go through the fire all over again just to be with him..." I said in a subconscious whisper to myself. But of course, Alec heard me quite clearly.

He gasped harshly, "Jane!" He leaned back to glare at me and I felt relieved when he didn't release my hand or got up in anger as I expected him to. Why did I have to just say something like that to Alec? Why couldn't I tell Seth that instead of always attacking him?

I looked at Alec closely then. "Don't you understand?"

He knew I was referring to his relationship with Chelsea. We were always perceptive about each other, most times not really having to say much to get the other to understand what we meant.

"I do. But Jane, Chelsea and I are different. We're both vampires. And well he is a..."Alec glanced at me then said in a tone that implied that he was reluctantly using a better term for my sake. "...a shape-shifter. You two are polar opposites."

Unconsciously, I placed my hand on my stomach. "We're not as incompatible as everyone seemed to think." I said a bit smugly.

Alec scoffed. "Please don't remind me."

I had the uncommon urge to tell Alec to grow up. But I refrained. Looking at him now, I had a fleeting strange flashback of him as a child, when we'd been human. It was so vivid. I didn't want us to fight not knowing how long I would have with him at this time. He appeared to be on the move and I sensed he and Chelsea wouldn't want to linger here too long.

He then explained to me exactly what he'd overheard in Volterra when Aro had revealed to Caius the true reason he had sent me to Forks. It amazed me that Aro had known all along that Seth would imprint on me. I felt an intense rush of rage as I thought of the way he'd used me as a mere pawn in his intense pursuit of power. Then all the rage was deflated when I reminded myself that he was dead. He had paid the ultimate price for his crazed machinations. And I certainly didn't regret that he had sent me here.

"I truly thought you were happy in Volterra." Alec said.

"I never aspired to be happy there, Alec. I guess I just resigned myself after a while that it would be my home forever. At first, I felt a fierce joy...to be able to use my power like that. It faded after a while until I only felt...vindictive satisfaction. Now if it should return to me, I can't really imagine using it in such a way again...unless someone threatened Seth or you or any of my...friends."

"_Friends?_"

"Yes, Alec. The Cullens are my friends now."

"I'm not really a fan of cliches but I feel the need to say this. Who are you and what have you done with my sister?"

"I'm still me, believe me. I just have a couple new perspectives."

Alec shook his head wonderingly. "You know, if I even thought you would be open to it, if I believed you weren't really content in Volterra, I would have tried to escape there with you and Chelsea a lot sooner. But I'm glad it worked out this way. No one to hunt us down now."

"Alec, I never thought you felt that way." It was sad to see how long we'd supported each other but never really had a true heart to heart in all the years we reigned as the twin terror of Volterra. Our roles in the Volturi had not only distanced us from our humanity but from each other. Fortunately we would have a lot of time to make up for that now.

"So...you and Chelsea?"

"Yes." Alec responded, his eyes drifting off a little. I had a good idea where his thoughts were. Or rather who his thoughts were on. He sat there silently, his mind obviously preoccupied. I quietly observed his engrossment for a few moments. Moments then turned into long minutes. Tentatively I waved my hand in front my distracted brother's face. "Uh, Alec?"

He blinked once then his attention returned to me. I couldn't help giggling a little.

"So you and Chelsea wanted to escape for a while."

"We were planning on eventually doing that." Alec patted my hand. "One day when there's less of an audience, I'll tell you more about us." It _was_ a bit too quiet downstairs. The possibility of the Cullens overhearing our conversation didn't irritate me as it once might have.

"You make that one day thing sound like in the next century. Alec, promise me we'll see each other often, that we'll meet up frequently...I miss you so much."

"We'll always be in contact Jane. Even though you have an aversion to phones."

"Well not anymore I won't."

Alec glanced anxiously out the window.

"Where is Chelsea?"

"She's waiting for me in Seattle."

I sensed that this present moment we shared together would be coming to an end too soon. I could see he was anxious to meet her. Though I fervently wished we could spend some more time together, I knew exactly how he felt.

"Well don't keep her waiting. Go to her." I said softly. We both stood up fluidly at the same time and grasped each other tightly.

"I love you, Alec."

"I love you." He responded, his voice sounding as if he were crying. Which he couldn't. But I could. Tears trailed unchecked for once, down my cheeks.

Alec looked at me in amazement then brushed the tears away lightly with just the tips of his fingers. It felt like ice cold feathers brushing against my newly sensitive skin. "Jane, don't cry." He whispered. "I'll be seeing you soon."

I nodded anxiously. "You better." I muttered. He kissed me once, tenderly on my lips and smoothed my hair behind one ear. Then we linked arms again as I walked with him downstairs.

* * *

The rushing sound of the waves hitting the rocks at the bottom of our cliff was as ageless as perhaps the beginning of the world itself. Beyond that tumultous fringe of water beating on the jagged rocks was the calm, azure ocean, stretching out endlessly until it blended seamlessly to the complementing blue sky. The white gold sunlight glared relentlessly down on the smooth lines of the deep water causing the ocean to sparkle like diamonds. Almost in the same way the sun used to reflect against my own skin. I held up my hand before me, looking at the muted radiance. My skin itself was becoming a bit more malleable, and yielding. Except for the reduced reflective capability, its pearly translucent appearance was unchanged though.

I kicked off my ballet flats, careful not to send them pitching over the cliff, needing to feel the warm grass between my toes. Tilting my head back, I closed my eyes and simply enjoyed the hot feel of the sun on my face. As good as it felt to be standing here in some much wanted solitude, I couldn't wait for him to meet me.

Presently, he was getting his...hand wrapped up so that the small bones that had fragmented could set properly. I winced slightly. Immense shame filled me once again, especially as Bella had updated me on the fact that he had been severely injured leaping after me when I had escaped by jumping off the cliff.

Why couldn't I control myself more? He was the last person in my entire, damned existence who deserved to receive the brunt of my impractical anger. He'd helped me to discover that who I thought I was, wasn't who I truly am. In my short time with him amid the long span of my life, I hadn't really changed emotionally as I thought I first had. Rather I thought now that being with him had brought to the surface the person who I really was.

There wasn't any way I could take back all the inimitable horrors I had inflicted on others. And I wouldn't put the blame on Aro or the Volturi's vicious system for the acts I had committed either. I accepted full blame for everything I'd done.

My past would always be part of me...I wouldn't have arrived at this point without it. But I wouldn't allow my past to stop me from claiming the future that peeked at me with such impending joy.

I had a lot of making up to do. Not only with others I had deliberately hurt but also with myself. And I would start with not committing the most heinous horror of all against myself. Or him.

I had always believed from the moment I first knew I loved him, that I would never be able to give him everything he wanted in life. But fate decided otherwise. The feelings of shock and horror I had first experienced upon learning of my pregnancy were slowly being uprooted. In its place, I was beginning to feel a savage gratification blossoming inside me. The feeling was entirely new and unfamiliar. And unexpected.

I opened my golden eyes staring straight into the sun with ease as slowly, I touched my hands tenderly to my taut lower belly. Boy, we had a lot of research...and learning...to do. But as Seth continued to prove, there was nothing I couldn't do without him by my side.

Fiercely I vowed to myself that I would try my utmost to be a good mother to our child. He or she would never experience the abject pain Alec and I did in our human lifetime. The pain of being unwanted and unloved. Something distracted me from my thoughts then. Quite distinctly I heard someone moving towards me at an unnatural, speedy pace. The first thing that entered my mind was that Seth was finally coming to meet me. But the smile slipped from my lips before it had even fully begun when I scented that this person wasn't Seth.

I didn't recognize the aura of this particular person at all. A sliver of apprehension shuddered through me when I realized that there was only a matter of seconds before whoever it was would confront me face to face. There wasn't even time to call for help as this mysterious person burst through the copse of trees that I had spun around to face, my back turned now to the precipice. As I made eye contact with the intruder, the thought that I no longer had my power to use as a defense sent a chill of fear through me.

* * *

Author's Note: For a recap of what Alec overheard Aro and Caius discussing, refer to chapter 15


	41. Chapter 41

**Author's Note: It's been a helluva roller coaster ride with Healing Fire. . I really couldn't have done this story without all of your reviews. **

**The flames are burning down to embers now...**

**Disclaimer: I still don't own twilight**

Chapter 41

**SETH**

"How could you be so_ careless,_ Seth?" Mom looked me dead straight in the eye as she spoke softly to me. I flinched, averting my eyes away from hers. I felt bad enough even without the impact of her accusing words.

"Mom, it's not his fault." Leah piped up in a rare show of support since we'd all returned from Volterra. She hadn't been talking to me for a bit being still angry at how close it had been for all of us. "He had no idea anything like this could happen."

All three of us were seated around the dining room table at our old house in the rez in what Leah had told me was an 'emergency' family meeting. I guess it was a pre-meeting of sorts...about my impending meeting with the Quileute Tribal Council. They hadn't held a meeting since the Volturi fiasco five years ago when the wolves had joined with the Cullens to protect Renesmee. And I knew they weren't convening to congratulate me about my impending fatherhood either.

"It's ok, Leah." I muttered hoarsely. I could understand my mother's anger. I had left on what seemed to her like a death mission without saying anything to any one. I had not only risked my own life but that of my sister, Jake and our friends. In addition to that, she had found out that Jane was pregnant. The least Leah could've done was waited for me to tell mom myself...

"Leah's right. You didn't know." Mom whispered, leaning her face into her hand. I placed my hand on her shoulder reassuringly. I didn't want my circumstances to worry her. Too late for that.

Mom raised her head slowly to look at me again. "The Council's concerned about the issue of Jane feeding from you...and the effects on your blood." The worried crease of her brows drew down sternly again. "How could you let her just drink from you like that? You were aware of the consequences of such a thing...how it might affect you. Thank goodness she didn't poison you!"

It must've seemed to her like the most reviled taboo...how Jane fed from me. But even in the face of my mother's judgement, I couldn't feel ashamed. Quite to the contrary, I was intensely _glad_ that she drank from me alone. But I'd keep that to myself.

"We all tried talking to him." Leah grumbled. "But of course he wouldn't listen...not even to his blood sucker buddies."

"Seth, the Tribal Council is also concerned about the changes you've been going through. How her blood's changed you..it's almost as if you were one of them. " Mom added glumly.

I glanced at Leah, my eyes sparking with annoyance. Of course, she had told mom, the Tribal Council, probably the entire fucking state of Washington... everything.

"I had to update them, Seth." Leah said, folding her arms defensively when she met my eyes.

I shook my head resignedly, maintaining my unusual silence. We couldn't hide how we'd abruptly taken off to Volterra from the council forever. And no one ever pulled through an interrogation with mom without eventually giving up the relevant information she relentlessly extracted from you. She could successfully join Charlie on the police force.

I knew I should apologize to mom, I should explain to her why I had acted the way I did. She was worried to the point of a near seizure because of this Council development. I couldn't even concentrate on the distressing fact that the Council considered my changes to be a threat to them.

There was a nagging feeling in the pit of my stomach. A distinct feeling of dread ricocheted through me. I remembered experiencing this same uncanny sensation during my trip to Volterra.

Instinctively I _knew_ something was up with Jane.

I darted up from my seat so suddenly that I almost toppled over the entire table as my body brushed against it in my steadily increasing frenzy.

"I've gotta go." I muttered.

"Seth, we're not finished here." Mom said firmly.

"What's wrong?" Leah asked, frowning.

"I'll be back." I said quickly, running out of the house within a few seconds. Hastily, without even checking to see if anyone was around, I stripped in the front yard, securing my t-shirt and shorts around my leg. Without breaking my momentum, I smoothly delved into my wolf form and immediately flashed through the forest.

I was almost to our cliff now. My vivid olfactory senses tamped down on her scent the way a starving man would salivate after a lavish buffet.

As my wolf speed drew me closer and closer to her, I experienced our connection on a whole new level.

The static energy that drew us together flipped on as easily as a light switch. The energy arcing between us flooded my mind with a bright haze of light that revealed Jane's dark fear and apprehension.

* * *

**JANE**

In all my long years as a vampire, I had never come across the...being standing before me. A towering man casually attired in non-descript but expensive clothing that were simple but could withstand immense traveling through natural elements. I knew well the necessity of such garments when I had embarked on my numerous missions. To human eyes, he would appear as another human.

But to my eyes which still retained the specific vision of a vampire, I could see that he was _not_ human.

Or vampire either. Well, not either in its entirety.

His heart beat at a significantly faster rate than an average person and his skin possessed a subtle sheen that was even more apparent in the bright sunlight. His eyes were a startling combination of grey and green and his hair was a deep burnished bronze. He regarded me with an intent perusal that made me uncomfortable.

I unwittingly stepped back as he took a step towards me. In a deliberately slow movement, he held up his hand.

"Please, I intend you no harm."

His words were unexpected but still didn't diminish the instinctive fear I felt.

Who was he and what did he want with me? He spoke in a calm monotone that didn't give me a clue about where he was from. I wondered if he was one of Aro's numerous minions come to exact revenge for his demise?

"Who are you?" I asked bluntly, fear feeding my building anger and sharpening my tone.

"You will discover who and what I am soon enough." He tilted his head to the side then, his gaze wandering away from me as he seemed to listen to something.

"There's much you need to know." He said, turning his attention back to me where I stood stock still. He extended his other arm to me. In his hand was a thick, bound book. I could tell it was an aged relic by its faded vellum bindings. "I would like to...lend you this. I may or may not return for it, it all depends."

"What is it?" In spite of myself, I was immensely curious. I didn't know who or what this stranger was but the mysterious book tugged at me as all books did, especially ones I hadn't perused before.

"This will...enlighten you, perhaps." He extended the book towards me again but I didn't move an inch. "I must be gone now. I hope this helps you." He gingerly set the book down on the grass and moved back slowly. With one last glance at me, he turned and ran off into the trees with blurring speed.

As I watched the mysterious man disappear through the forest, something about him nagged at me. He reminded me of some one but I just couldn't bring to mind who he reminded me of.

I stood there thinking of this strange encounter for a few moments. Then Seth burst through the trees running to stand before me in his large wolf form.

Though my fingers itched to grasp the book that lay within my reach, I tore my gaze from the mystery before me and looked at him as he stood above me. He grumbled deeply then nuzzled me gently on my shoulder. I couldn't help smiling. The cadence of his wolf grumbles was right along the lines with his deep, husky voice. Lifting his head, he glanced down at me warily and moved back a tiny step.

Seth's wolf form had always aggravated me mostly because it had become sort of ingrained in me in my time in Volterra to distrust all other supernatural creatures. Besides that, I had an innate fear of this side of him given the aggressive way he had acted in this form together with the way the other wolves had attacked me when they first discovered me feeding from him.

But how could I fear him like this when he had always fiercely protected me? He had saved me from his own wolf brothers when I had first arrived here then from my former Volturi comrades...

He had protected me in the moments when I believed in the next moment I would be dead. I had always stressed to him that I hadn't needed his protection, that I was fully capable of defending myself. But secretly I was enamored of his intense protectiveness towards me. It made me feel...needed.

And I had never really felt _needed_ before. Useful yes but not needed.

Tentatively, I slowly reached out one hand and lightly threaded my fingers through the deep fur of his chest. My hand looked so tiny embedded in the deep fur of his massive chest. The thundering of his immense heart pulsed through my fingers with lightening speed as I lightly grasped his soft fur. I raised my eyes to his large wolf ones. They were a gentle golden brown. Despite his dominant wolfen features, I could feel the tenderness leaping out of his intent gaze. Then his tongue lolled out of his mouth as he bared his teeth. I could tell even in his wolf form that he was grinning at me. My own lips stretched widely in response as I grinned back at him. My fingers unconsciously continued to pet him. His deep, soft fur and sturdy wolf body were true indicators of who he really was...a tender-hearted and strong minded man.

I made a chagrined protest when he licked me at the side of my face. "Ugh Seth. Eww..." His tongue felt rough against my skin and left a long, sticky trail of...residue. He was literally drooling over me!

He made a low sound and it was exactly like the sound a huge wolf would make if it chuckled, I guess.

His fur bristled when he glanced at the mysterious book returning my attention to it as well. His large, soft eyes returned to me then as he backed away putting some distance between us. I felt the wind from the ocean buffeting my back with it's cold caress. Subconsciously I had the fleeting urge to fall asleep with Seth's fur cuddled around me, right here on our balmy cliff with the ocean lapping at the rocks below as a soothing lullaby.

I watched as he made his transformation. Seeing him...phase was something that always fascinated me. One second he was all fawny fur and long wolfen limbs then the next he was my tall, naked Seth. In a fraction of a second between the two seconds it took him to transform from wolf to man, I barely detected miniscule particles of heat and energy dispersing like an explosion of the most transparent, shimmering smoke. Then that translucent energy narrowed itself, re-aligning into his smaller, compact human form.

I noticed his clothes tied around one of his ankles but he made no move to put them on. He strode toward me his dark chocolate eyes riveted on my face. His large hands grasped me about my waist as he easily pulled me against him. The heat of his fingers warmed my skin through the thin material of the loose dress I wore. I barely craned my neck to look up at him before his heated mouth was on mine. The way he kissed me you could have sworn that he hadn't seen me for years instead of a mere couple hours ago. Not that I minded in the least.

"Are you alright?" He said when he lifted his head to give me a moment to breathe. What a turn around. I was the one who had to be careful when we kissed yet now he had to give me time to catch my breath now.

I took a deep breath. "I am now." I glanced _down _at him my gaze lingering there involuntarily. "you better put on those clothes." I murmured. Disappointment lanced through me when he followed my suggestion right away. He looked at me, grinning unabashedly as he noticed my frown.

"Uh, uh. The next time I touch you, it'll be on a bed."

"I thought it was perfect." I breathed out. That shorts on him did nothing to distract me. It only made me want him more.

"It was, believe me. But..." He seemed about to say something else then appeared to change his mind. I frowned even more. I would get to the bottom of what he obviously held back from me.

"What happened?" He asked me soberly. "It...I could feel your fear..."

"I'm not quite sure." I replied absently, wondering how he could have sensed my fear when we'd been apart.

"You're not sure?" Seth cocked an eyebrow at me inquiringly.

I proceeded to explain my unexpected encounter in greater detail. "There was a strange man here. It was...weird. He was obviously not human. But not vampire either. He didn't identify himself."

I felt Seth tense against me. He still held me close to him, his long, bare arms enfolding me.

"He didn't hurt me." I said quickly. "He acted like he meant me no harm."

"What did he want?"

"I don't know. But he left that." I gestured toward the book that lay on the ground a few feet from where we stood.

"Could it be a secret admirer of yours?" Seth asked with a little chuckle. But I could see the nerve ticking in his jaw. "After all, you're like a celebrity of the vampire world."

"Yeah, sure." I scoffed. "A celebrity who lost the 'talent' she's been known for."

"Jane..." Seth began but I silenced him by placing my whole hand across his mouth.

"Please, don't." I whispered. I hadn't meant to bring up the loss of my power now. There would be enough time to contemplate that. I slid my hand from his warm lips and cradled his square, tense jaw. I glanced down at the grass under my bare feet.

"Don't worry about it." I whispered. "Maybe the Romanians are right. Fate just decided _that _would be the ultimate punishment for me." I added lightly, deliberately being flippant about it. Better to brush it off like this than delve into the dark, tangled ball of emotions I deeply felt at the loss of my power. I couldn't even attempt to try to unravel that chaotic blend of hurt and anger at this point.

"I'm sorry that..." Seth started again.

"I want to see what's in the book." I darted around him and blurred toward the ancient looking parchment, lowering myself until I was crouched down. My intended distraction for him to stop pursuing our discussion worked as I sensed him moving towards me. I reached out and touched the faded beige, cloth-like vellum the book was bound in.

"Hey, wait!" Seth said frantically. I glanced up at him where he stood above me. He regarded the book warily.

"It's just a book, Seth." I said casually. He crouched down beside me.

"Do you mind me opening it first?"

I sighed with exasperation but gestured for him to go ahead.

Impatiently I waited as he picked the book up and then slowly opened it. Finally he had it open and together we read the few lines that covered the front page.

"Wow." Seth exclaimed in surprise the same second I blurted out. "Is this real?"

But how could I even question the authenticity of this..._journal_ when our baby was growing inside my supposedly unchangeable, vampiric body?

The first page contained in graphic detail the identification of the mysterious stranger who had...gifted me with this incredible relic. His name was Isaiah...and he was the son of a wolf shape-shifter and a vampire...

Eagerly I flipped through the pages, my eyes scanning the carefully translated text. The book was transcribed in two languages. An ancient text that even in my two hundred years as a vampire I was unable to identify. And modern English.

But given the contents of this journal and it's specified age, this relic was by far, older than my two hundred years. I could see myself getting easily enraptured in the simple narrative that conveyed such complex...truths.

I realized the man...Isaiah had most likely painstakingly translated the whole journal. As I further read the numerous pages, it became apparent to me that this was a personal accounting of his mother's perspective on her imprinting experience...and her subsequent pregnancy.

I frowned slightly. How did this Isaiah know about _our _circumstances?

"We should show this to Carlisle." Seth's deep voice cut through my fixation on the book. I had all but forgotten his presence beside me. And that was saying a lot on how completely this journal had captivated my attention.

"Yes" I immediately agreed. But the entries in this ancient journal were so intensely intimate that even though it had been specifically _lent_ to me, I felt as if I invaded something meant to be absolutely private. "Carlisle would be really curious about the accounts in this." I said. "If these are really facts in here, his theory about me would be mostly accurate."

I glanced down again at the front page. At the end of his introduction he had penned the note that ' _...there are older supernatural forces other than your extinct Volturi in the paranormal world._'

I shuddered briefly. To me, it seemed like a subtle warning.

* * *

"Two thousand years old." Carlisle whispered in awe. In his hands he held the journal and like me, he had a hard time tearing his eyes away from its pages.

Seth, myself and the Cullens were all gathered in the Cullens' living area.

I fidgeted self-consciously where I sat next to Seth. He rubbed my tense shoulders lightly, his long fingers making soothing circular motions on my skin while his other large, warm hand engulfed mine. I tried valiantly to dispel the static tingling in the core of me from the tips of his fingers gently stroking the underside of my palm. It certainly wasn't the most opportune time to feel like this. Yet I couldn't bear to feel the absence of his tantalizing fingers on my skin even though we were in the Cullens' company.

I could feel the others' eyes on me as I hid my face behind my hair. Particularly Rosalie's and Esme's gazes. Esme tried to be discreet about the blatant glances she sent my way but Rosalie was an entirely different matter.

She stared at me so intensely and unblinkingly that I couldn't differentiate if she just merely observed me or if she was glaring at me. I instinctively knew that the glances she and Esme were giving me were ones of immense curiosity...and longing.

If there were any vampires who deserved to have babies, it would be these two. I couldn't help thinking that Esme was born to be a mother...she mothered all the Cullens and anyone who she interacted with regularly with an intrinsic care and consideration that I was almost certain not even the most devoted human mother could emulate. As for Rosalie, I knew she would be an excellent mother as well given what I had observed of her relationship with Renesmee.

And the last person in all eternity who should ever be close to a fragile baby let alone become pregnant with one was...myself.

But despite my lingering doubts, I felt unexpectedly invigorated. I didn't know if it was my second 'nap' in two centuries or the fact that I now fully realized that I was entirely free from the confines of Volterra that elicited such a sensation in me. Or that we seemingly had answers to troubling concerns that had worried us.

Coupled with my innate relief, I had an insatiable urge to spend some time with Seth completely _alone_. My fingers reflexively squeezed his hand as he clutched me. He turned down to look at me and I smiled tentatively up at him.

"Jane...you really had me worried." Seth whispered to me now, a slight frown breaking his heart tugging grin.

"I don't want you to be." I whispered back at him then glanced around at the others. I had a sudden flash of inspiration. Just then Alice caught my eye.

She skipped over to us, tugging at my hand.

"Excuse us, Seth." She trilled in a soft tone then before Seth or I could say anything, she pulled me up from my comfortable perch where I had been cuddled against Seth and practically dragged me along after her.

How could someone so tiny be so domineering?

"Ok Alice. What is it now?" I asked with apprehension. We were standing outside just inside the border of trees that ringed their property.

"Contrary to what you might think, I'm not only the bearer of bad tidings, you know." Alice responded with a hurt frown.

"Somehow, I don't think you dragged me out here to tell me bad news. Unless...this is about another dress I must 'absolutely' try." I muttered dryly.

"Oh, I've already packed a whole new set for you."

"What? Wait, _packed_?" Did she know that I, we, would be going somewhere?

She smiled brilliantly."There's this gorgeous, out of the way place that I think you guys would appreciate." She slipped me a card. I glanced down at it. Then smiled slowly.

"Thank you." I whispered feeling the blood rushing to my face.

"You're welcome. Have fun!" She quipped lightly then swivelled back towards the house. I had to force myself to move at a human pace as I made my way back to Seth. He was standing there on the porch waiting for me with a bewildered frown on his face. Alice disappeared into the house as I carefully made my way up the steps.

I walked right up to him where he stood on the porch, oblivious to the stares from Rosalie, Emmett, Bella and Edward who had joined him on the porch as well. Reaching up to him, I tugged his head down to mine and pecked him softly on his lips.

"Let's run away..." I whispered in his ear. His sunny smile bathed me with warmth. But I frowned slightly when his smile slipped from his face.

"But we can't..." He said slowly. "At least not yet."

"Why?"

"The tribal elders are having a meeting." Seth explained, a frown creasing his heavy brows. "They're concerned about how I've changed, how I've developed all these vampire characteristics in my human form. And about the fact that a vampire could gain the ability to transform into a wolf if I'm bitten."

"Then we have to convince them that we can protect ourselves from any vampires that seek us out." I said firmly, trying to reassure him. "That's even if any would. Only the Volturi really knew about your blood."

An entry in the journal flashed through my mind then that helped to settle my worry where that was concerned. As Seth's imprint, I possessed an immunity against that particular effect of drinking his venom charged blood much in the same way as he was immune to my pain inducing power. I _wouldn't _gain that ability to change into a wolf as other vampires who ever drank his blood would.

I allowed myself a brief, mournful thought about my lost power. I wanted to use it in a way I had never used it before. Not to torture anymore, but to _protect. _

From what I had gleaned from the journal, Isaiah's mother hadn't recorded anything about lost vampiric powers. So I didn't have an inkling if it was a temporary phase or a more permanent one.

Jake and Renesmee joined our little gathering on the porch then. He pulled up in a motorbike with Renesmee perched behind him. Renesmee's cheeks reddened as she noticed all of us standing there. Then she ducked her head clasping Jake's waist tighter though he had cut off the bike's engine. Jake glanced almost sheepishly at Edward who was in turn glaring at Jake as if he wanted to throttle him with his bare hands.

I sighed softly. I was a bit envious that Renesemee, in spite of her overprotective parents had still managed to steal some private time with Jake.

"Where have you been?" Bella demanded of her daughter and the relevant wolf in question as they lingered on the bike.

Jasper appeared out of no where, gliding smoothly onto the porch. His eyes moved calmly between Edward and Bella.

"Bella, let's take this inside." Edward muttered softly as he inclined his head towards Renesmee and Jake with a small gesture. The couple slowly slid off the bike with mutual reluctance glancing anxiously at each other.

Seth chuckled a little as all of us heard Jake's muted groan. He punched Seth's shoulder on his way into the house.

"Heads up. Paul and Leah are on their way here. " Jake said briefly before walking at an unusually slow pace inside. Renesmee darted after him, her subtly sheened skin still slightly flushed. I thought all of us could hear the rapid thumping of her heart.

The rapid thumping of her heart...much faster than an average human's heartbeat. My mind instantly made the connection. That's who he reminded me of...Isaiah. He reminded me of Renesmee in a way. They both had that slight iridescence to their skin and their heart rate was almost at the same cadence. And I myself was much like them now. I didn't sparkle as vividly anymore when exposed to direct sunlight and my heart did beat a bit faster than a human's...

Seth's warm hand caressing my cheek jolted me from my thoughts. I looked up at him hardly aware of Rosalie and Emmett going inside.

"I promise as soon as this is settled, we're getting out of here." He whispered.

"I'm definitely holding you to that." I murmured, closing my eyes as I pressed my face against his neck.

His hands tightened on my waist and one of his long fingers tilted my chin up. Too slowly he lowered his mouth down on mine. The smooth, silky heat of his lips tugged on my lower one and I parted my mouth instinctively.

Then he sighed exasperatedly against my lips. My eyes slowly opened as he raised his head to stare behind me.

His sister, Leah and another man who was obviously a wolf as well, stood just before the trees that bordered the path leading to the porch. They were skimpily attired no doubt so that they could easily facilitate their transformation. Were they expecting us to put up any resistance? Most likely they did, not from Seth but from me.

"Hate to interrupt..." The man said in a tone that suggested that he had no qualms about 'interrupting' at all. "But the council meeting's about to get underway." I suddenly recognized him as one of the young men from Seth's beach party...Paul.

Seth nodded in response his arm tightening reflexively about my waist.

Leah glanced at both of us, her dark gaze widening a little with apprehension. She was not her usual.. unfriendly self. And it was the blatant concern in her expression as she regarded us that planted the seeds of my own apprehension. As if we didn't have a whole garden of issues to deal with.

"You should stay here...I'll be back as soon as I can."

"I'm going with you." I said softly but firmly.

"You don't have to go through this..."

"Yes I do...this concerns the both of us." I winced slightly as I recalled jumping from that cliff after having read Aro's ominous note. I hadn't waited for him then. I had reacted quite independently not even seeking his opinion. So I knew it was bold of me now to demand that I come along to this meeting. But his sister's worry aggravated me...and I wanted to be there with him.

I half expected him to remind me of the way I had left him out of things before. But of course, it would not be in his nature to hold anything against anyone. Even if he had almost lost his life in the process. He nodded and clasping my hand, led me out into the forest to follow behind Leah and Paul.

* * *

When we arrived at the reservation, Paul muttered something to Leah along the lines that he would begin the patrol and she nodded gruffly in response.

We made our way into a short building that was isolated from the main area of the reservation.

I didn't expect to see his mother there. Or the vivid accusation that emanated from her narrowed eyes when she looked at me...She regarded me like a furious lioness in protective mode of her cub.

I bit my lip in agitation. Seth adored his mother...and I didn't want her to hate me as everyone else all too easily had.

Besides his mother and Leah, there were five men seated in there much advanced in human years. Their withered aging didn't soften the rigid regality with which they held themselves. I recognized strong authority when I saw it. Despite their fragile appearance, they still possessed a distinct air of authority seemingly no less potent in this instant than perfectly preserved, millenia aged vampires.

All five of them regarded me without a hint of fear. When their aloof gazes landed on Seth however, they became somewhat agitated, whispering in a foreign tongue amongst themselves. I assumed it was the Quileute language.

They then proceeded to ignore my presence altogether and fired question after question at Seth. I was impressed at Seth's respect of the Quileute elders. Even as they aggressively pummelled him verbally, he answered them with careful patience and decorum as if they were discussing his favourite topic. I still hated being interrogated in any way and it was just as well that they acted as if I didn't exist. I certainly wasn't blessed with Seth's patient temperament.

I could practically feel the waves of distress wafting from his mother and Leah as the elders debated if Seth's changes would put the Quileute area in more danger. And I couldn't help thinking if Seth was in more danger than he had let me know. What would this council do if they decided that Seth's uniquely transformed blood placed the wolves and their families in too much danger from curious vampires?

Fortunately my worries were unfounded. They decided that they would simply increase the patrols around the land borders.

His mother exhaled a huge breath of relief and hugged Seth to her. Again I wondered what would have been the penalty if they decided Seth's blood made him dangerous to them.

I glanced down at my feet anxiously when Sue Swan met my eyes over Seth's shoulder. Leah sighed then embraced both her mother and brother.

Witnessing their love for each other made me envision just what I wanted our future to look like. I touched my hands to my stomach yet again. The shocking impact of this miracle of ours would never cease to amaze me.

I looked up and my eyes widened in surprise when his mother smiled tentatively at me. She released Seth and came towards me. Seth and Leah traced her steps walking to stand beside her as she faced me.

"I understand that Seth had to go after you." She said without preamble, "But don't ever put my son through something like that again."

"Mom..." Seth said plaintively but I interrupted him.

"I won't." I whispered. It was amazing how this human woman could make me feel so nervous as not even my former Volturi could.

"Good." She said firmly.

To my immense shock, she pulled me to her in a big hug. I slowly returned her hug as she said warmly, "Welcome to the family, Jane."

I blinked my surprise away then met Seth's gaze as he grinned down at me. And I couldn't wait for the moment I would have him _all_ to myself.


	42. Chapter 42

**Author's Note: _*Slowly raising hands from hiding face* _Um...hi guys. Do you all remember this story? I know it's been a while but I've finally updated :P ; Life has been busy in every sense for me (I'm planning my own wedding right now) and I haven't been able to update as quickly as I really wanted to.** **Anyway, this is like the second last chapter there's still another one to come after, I hope all of you haven't totally forgotten about Healing Fire. So, this is my first attempt at an ahem, sort of hardcore ...lemon. If it's not your thing don't read it but I really would like some feedback :)**

**Disclaimer: Don't own these lovely characters but I sure as hell own their orgasms! : P**

Chapter 42

JANE

The rustic resort nestled in the deep mountainside of the Sonoma Valley was the perfect get-away. The nature focused setting became more than a mere escape for us in a way that totally shocked me...but in the most pleasant way.

As we ate dinner...or more specifically as Seth ate dinner at the in-house restaurant with a gorgeous view of the sunset over the River Valley, I could sense that he was nervous about something. When he began pushing the food around on his plate instead of eating with his usual relish, I couldn't take it anymore.

"Ok, Seth. What's bothering you?" I blurted out.

"Nothing." He said quickly, his eyes widening slightly.

"To borrow one of Emmett's endearing terms, that's bull. Now spill it."

Seth chuckled at my choice of verbiage. Then he sobered up.

"Nothing's _bothering_ me."

I looked at him skeptically as he looked at me with a too calm expression on his chiselled face. He caved first under my hard glare, biting his lip and raking his hand through his hair.

"You seem so...nervous." I sighed softly, glancing down at my useless silverware. "Look, I know this is going to be a huge responsibility for you. You're so young, and I don't want you to be burdened. You need to go college, forge a life for yourself...and I don't want to keep you back from any of that."

"Jane..."

"If only I'd known this could happen, we could have taken precautions. I could understand if you didn't want...this. You can tell me if you're uncomfortable with me being...pregnant...it's not something..."

He clamped his hand over mine firmly, giving it a light squeeze.

"I'm glad you're going to have our child." He said in a fierce low whisper. "It's something I never thought we'd experience together...and I could have lived without having any children once I had you. And now by some miracle, we have that capability. And though it wasn't expected, I wouldn't have it any other way. I'm so happy we're going to be parents, Jane." His face crinkled into a blinding white smile radiating such joy that I couldn't help but feel gratified.

"I...I'm happy that I can share this experience with you. I always thought that this was something you would have always wanted." I said then added, "In the future."

"It's not like I lost nights of sleep pining to be a father. But now that it's a distinct possibility, it's all I can dream about."

"Seth, this isn't going to be easy. Yes it's...beautiful and it's miraculous but the reality is I..I have no idea how to care for a...baby."

"So what am I...chopped liver?"

"What do you know about taking care of a baby?"

"Jane, baby. Like everything we've discovered before, we'll learn. Together. It won't be easy or perfect. But it'll be worth it. Besides we'll have help. Rosalie is practically biting at the bit to get closer to you."

I shook my head a little smiling at his reference to Rosalie's increasingly friendly overtures.

"You always know what to say to make me feel better." I whispered. Impulsively, I leaned over and gave him a quick kiss on his soft, warm lips. What was intended for a quick peck however lingered into moments as we kissed tenderly, our surroundings forgotten.

Seth raised his mouth from mine and grinned at me. I grinned back unabashedly. Then frowned when his grin slipped a little and he took a deep breath.

"What is it?" I asked anxiously.

"I...well...isn't this place beautiful?"

I looked at him quizzically, not quite being successful at stifling my smile at how cute he was when he was nervous.

"I hope their beds are strong." I said absently, wondering what he was thinking.

"I...what?!" Seth had been about to say something else when he exclaimed in surprise, his mouth hanging open slightly. I felt that still unfamiliar heated rush of blood to my face as I realized what I just said. Then we both burst into unrestrained laughter.

Seth stopped laughing first then said, "But we...can't. We can't make love."

Now I stopped laughing abruptly. "What do you mean, we can't?"

"Well I'm not sure if we should...because of the baby."

"We won't hurt him." I reassured him confidently.

"We can't measure this by any human standards, Jane. We don't know how this pregnancy will impact you..."

Why hadn't I thought to ask Carlisle if we could continue this aspect of our relationship? I looked carefully at Seth's face and noted the determined set of his jaw. I knew he was dead set on not doing anything that would risk hurting me or the baby. But I was almost certain, at this early stage that no harm could be done if he loved me like I wanted him to.

"Wait..you said him." Seth smiled wonderingly.

"I don't have any supernatural guess as to if the baby will be a boy or a girl. I just want he or she to be just like you. So beautiful, sweet...and good."

"In that case he...or she...will be like the both of us." He grasped my hand and slowly brought it to his lips. His hot mouth moved enticingly over my slender fingers, the tip of his hot tongue grazing them teasingly. I was practically a seated melted puddle of response to his hot gaze; he was staring at me with such sensual promise that I squirmed in my seat, my thin lacy underwear becoming dewy with just the look he was pinning me with. And he said I was the tease...

"Be my wife."

If I had become completely human, there was no way I would have heard what he said, sidetracked as my mind had become on visions of what I wanted to do to him...and with him. However my vampiric hearing picked up on every nuance of his words despite how distracted I had become.

My eyes widened and I inhaled a sharp intake of air.

"Please?"

"Yes..." I said simply. But my head was a whirl of deep emotions...and one thought that stood out was that this gorgeous, beautiful man should never have to beg me for _anything _least of all to spend the rest of my life with him.

He was grinning widely and then he stood up and came to my side and bending to one knee before me, he tenderly grasped my hand again.

"This was mom's mother's engagement ring. She wanted us to have it." He said quietly. Then he slipped the on ring my finger, which trembled slightly as my hand shook in his a little. It was a simple gold band with a diamond shaped sapphire embedded in the centre.

"It's lovely...and it certainly suits me. I mean, with my age and all." I joked lightly. Seth smiled up at me where he knelt before me.

"I love you, baby."

I smiled back at him widely not able to contain my exultant happiness. I was barely aware of the palpable grins of the people seated around us as I leaned in to whisper to him. "I love you."

Then his hot lips were on mine again and everyone else disappeared.

* * *

**SETH**

Contrary to when we had first made love on the grass of our ocean side cliff, the large opulent bedroom was furnished with all the lavish trimmings that I'd wanted her to have for our first time together... Rose petals scattered on the sheet, flickering candles that smelled like roses and sex...and a huge, luxurious bed _made_ for sex.

But as with our first time together, none of these things mattered now.

I couldn't get enough of her. Trailing my tongue against the smooth skin of her slender neck, I tasted the succulent nectar of her scent. I felt the vibration of her throaty moan where my teeth lightly grazed her neck. My hands were full of her silky soft breasts, my fingers plucking the distended nipple of her right breast, coaxing it into a stiff bud.

We were lying down on the huge bed, her back was against my chest and her small hand desperately clutched one of the many fluffy pillows as my fingers teased her relentlessly.

She moved her pert and curvy ass against me and I groaned into the nape of her neck. My engorged cock slipped against her and I swiftly levered myself up on my hands, rising to hover over her. My hands pressed her against the sheets so that she was lying down on her back.

Her golden eyes met mine.

"Jane." I whispered, sweeping a few tendrils of pale hair from her cheek. Her eyes were half lidded. She looked delirious as if she had one too many drinks. But of course that was not possible. She ran her fingertips down my chest, her nails lightly grazing my skin and a violent tremor shuddered through me. She tilted her hips slightly off the bed as she bit down hard on her lip.

I smiled down at her deviously and she groaned when I shook my head.

"No." I said softly. I slowly glided one of my fingers into her, exploring her soft wetness. She clenched around my finger, her breath catching in her throat. I growled lowly at her response feeling the flood of her heat. While my finger plunged into her, my thumb circled around her tense little nub that peeked at me through the flushed petals of her glistening flesh.

She had mindlessly spread her pale, slim legs wide, one of her feet lay flat on the bed while her other small foot dangled off to the side. Her arms were thrown over her head, her eyes tightly shut and her slender belly was taut as she arched her back off the mattress. Her position allowed me ample opportunity to observe every inch of her with eager eyes; her heated, pinkened flesh was on full display to my keen vision and I unwaveringly feasted my eyes on her. My tongue darted out to moisten my lower lip ...

Her sexy curved hips began to make tantalizing little circular motions as my thumb lightly pressed against her slick nub and another wave of her wet arousal saturated my embedded finger.

I stilled my fingers as she squirmed beneath me. "Don't you dare stop!" She hissed softly, opening her amber eyes to glare up at me. I smiled slowly and whispered in her ear, "I want you to come on my tongue. I won't let you until I'm tasting you..." I nipped her ear with the edges of my teeth.

She whimpered, her fingers digging into the soft pillow she held tight in her grip. The tantalizing musky scent of her arousal sharpened my own need to have her. In every possible way. It was torture having to hold myself back. But I was determined that I'd please her in every way that I could. Even if I was being inherently cautious about fucking her thoroughly the way I wanted to...

I moved down her body, pausing to lave her rigid nipples with my wet mouth. I continued kissing her along her flat stomach until my face hovered above the pulsing centre of her smooth thighs. I fucking loved her scent...and the taste of her was sweeter than the most succulent fruit.

Teasingly my tongue lapped at the dripping core of her. My eyes briefly slid close in bliss. Her hips jerked up off the bed as my inquisitive tongue slid along the path of her soft, sticky slit.

"You taste so good." My lips moved against her quivering flesh as I spoke. I raised my head and my eyes fixed on where she was spread out before me like the most enticing buffet. She still had that slim, pale arm thrown over her beautiful face. Not feeling my mouth on her anymore, she peeked at me from under her hand.

"Seth, darling..." I smiled spontaneously at the high pitched quiver in her musical voice. Her eyes met mine squarely as she panted out, "...please...do that..."

I chuckled softly, my gaze again becoming riveted on her. "Do what?" I murmured.

"You know what I want you to do!"

"Tell me what you want. I want to hear you say what you want me to do to you."

"Seth..." She moaned plaintively.

"Tell me Jane." I slowly licked my lips, forcing myself not to just delve my tongue back between her thighs. I couldn't keep my fingers away from her though. As she looked at me, I used two of my fingers to rub against her taut little clit. She sucked in a sharp breath when I pinched her lightly.

"Say it, baby. I want to taste your come on my tongue... say it now." I coaxed her, my voice hoarse with need as I inserted one finger into her again. Her slick walls spasmed against me. Then I inserted another finger...I growled softly when she clamped down on my two fingers. Fuck, she was so tight...

"Aaah Seth! I want you to. I want you to taste me! " She gasped out, her eyes ensnaring mine with searing intensity. "I want to feel your tongue on me..." She whimpered softly.

Another growl rumbled from deep in my throat as I slowly lowered my head to her. I began repeatedly flicking my tongue on her rigid little nub then I made little circles with just the tip of my tongue. All the while I kept my fingers pumping inside her tight sheath. As I feasted on her, my knuckle deep fingers twisted slightly inside her. I was suddenly grateful for my...avid research. It was something I had learned in a literary sense and I wanted to test my knowledge on her. I literally beckoned her to come with a deliberate motion of my finger. I felt her sensitized inner flesh clamping down even more tightly on me, her spasming moist walls pressing down on my thick finger.

I raised my face from her reveling in the sight of her abandoned reaction to just my fingers. Encouraged by her abandoned response, I stroked her with that beckoning gesture almost at an inhuman pace. Her hips raised off the bed again, the toned muscles of her taut belly tightening enticingly as she moaned loudly. The frantic tone of her loud cry made my cock surge even harder. She propped herself up and stared at me with wild, wide eyes as my fingers continued to work in her. Our eyes remained riveted on each other as I watched her come undone.

"Seth...no!... She screamed. "Ohhh...Seth!"

Her orgasm soaked my fingers. I had wanted to tease her more but I couldn't deny her...or myself this sweet, sudden explosion of pleasure. Her addictive peach and spice scented juices had me lowering my head once again to her. I lapped at the sticky warmth coating the satiny petals of her drenched core.

Fucking addicted. Even when her hips stilled and relaxed after her irrepressible throes, I licked at her delicious moisture.

I wanted to bury myself in her so badly...I crawled up over her, dipping my head to nip her slender neck again. My swollen cock prodded at her heated core and I moved back quickly, biting down hard on my lips, almost drawing blood. Jane sat up quickly and rose on her knees to face me, gasping my shoulders and leaning into me.

Her mouth slid over mine and our tongues danced with each other as we kissed deeply. She leaned back to look at me.

"I like the taste of me on your tongue." She whispered hoarsely. I gripped her to me, feeling another intense surge of heated arousal engulfing me then shooting down to my throbbing cock. Her eyes drifted to my jutting tumescence between us as we knelt facing each other. She raised her eyes to my face again, smiling cheekily.

"But I think I'd like the taste of _you _even better..." She whispered teasingly.

I groaned this time as she used one finger to spread the beads of moisture that had gathered at my slick, rigid tip.

Raising her eyes to glimpse at me, her lush mouth curled up again in that alluring teasing way of hers. She slid off the bed so that she was kneeling on the ground before me. Grasping my thighs, she pulled me to her so that I had to place both my bare, corded legs on either side of her...which placed my throbbing cock right in front her flushed face. Her eyes lingeringly traversed every inch of me and her pink tongue darted out to slowly lick her bottom lip. Slowly she began bending her head toward me, her pale hair falling to partially hide her flushed face.

"Jane, I don't think..."

"I want to please you, Seth." She purred, interrupting my half-hearted protest. Her silky, lyrical voice made my cock jerk and then I swallowed harshly when I felt her sweet breath fanning my rigid, heated flesh. I tenderly swiped the silky strands of her hair from her face wanting to see every bit of her lust ridden expression.

"You will be inside me tonight, one way or the other..." She said throatily. I growled huskily, feeling a deep anticipation growing in me. She grasped the base of my cock with both her dainty hands and lowered her mouth down onto my slick head. I groaned loudly as I felt the soft insides of her mouth coating my cock. She glided half of my throbbing length into her soft wet mouth then slid her lips back up again. "How does that feel?" She whispered.

Indescribably incredible. "So good...' I panted out.

"You have to guide me through this Seth. Tell me what makes you feel good." She growled softly then slid my stiff cock between her soft, cupid bow lips again. It seemed my hands moved of their own volition as I grasped the sides of her face gently. Her mouth slid halfway down my length and she raised her eyes to look at me, a question in them.

"Yes, more." I hissed between my teeth, guiding her head down so that my cock slid even deeper into her soft, tight mouth. She eagerly followed my guiding hands, angling her mouth so that almost all of me was buried in her mouth. The sight of her cheeks hollowed out around me as she swallowed me deeply made me irrepressibly jerk inside her. She slid her eyes close, her muffled moan vibrating against my rigid flesh and I _almost _came undone inside her sweet, accommodating mouth. I groaned, moving my hands from her face and clamping my fingers down onto the bed where I sat before her.

Then she began sliding her lips against me. Her slick, hot mouth moved up along my length to the tip where her silky tongue swirled around my engorged head, greedily lapping at the pre-cum she found there. Then she was back down again, sheathing my length in her hot mouth, sliding down, down all the way to her unbelievably tight throat.

My fingers grasped the plush bedding, ripping it in my increasing frenzy.

"Aaahhh, babyyy..." Fuck, she was naturally fantastic.

I couldn't take my eyes off her kneeling there before me, her mouth eagerly gliding up and down my cock. I thought I would die if she didn't stop. Resolutely I kept my eyes on her, not wanting to miss the overwhelmingly sensual vision of my beautiful wife to be fucking me with her mouth like this. And the stunning visual of the curves of her well shaped ass in the air as she knelt before me ensured that I wouldn't be closing my eyes no matter how good this felt.

But what made this even more erotic was her obvious enjoyment. She was moaning against me as if she couldn't get enough of me.

The vibrations of her throaty moans against my rigid pulsating flesh in her succulent little mouth was quickly undoing me...I could feel my intense build up, could feel my loins tightening towards my explosive release.

"Jane, baby you need to stop." I moaned but she continued her relentless...adoration. There was no other way to describe her avid attention...

"Baby if you continue like this, I'm going to come real deep in your mouth..." I groaned hoarsely, my twin sacks tightening with the roller coaster pressure of my incoming release. She moaned against me again, her pale hair surrounding her flushed, hollowed cheeks. It seemed at my warning that her lips became even more relentlessly firm. And it was all so fucking good...great...and my undoing...

The extra pressure of her mouth and increased pace had me flooding her tender mouth and throat with the powerful surge of my come.

I hollered her name so loudly, I was sure that our neighbors would know her on a first name basis now. Even if the villas were spaced a half mile apart to ensure privacy...

I felt Jane stiffen a little against me and I felt like the biggest heel ever. She'd been so loving to me, this was her first time doing anything like this and the first thing I'd seen fit to do was uncontrollably release myself in her mouth. But my baby was such a sensuous little vixen. There was a smug little smile playing along the edges of her bow shaped, pinkened lips when she raised her face to look at me.

I felt all my limbs relaxing from my strenuously pleasurable climb, a climb that my baby had so skilfully maneuvered me into. She gently placed her small hands on my thighs as she knelt before me, licking those pouty lips lingeringly.

"Baby, was that...too intense for you?" I asked, still feeling somewhat like a heel for releasing in her mouth like that though she looked mightily pleased with herself.

"Everything's intense with you." She whispered, her eyes burning into mine. "But I wouldn't have it any other way." She rose and I pulled her against me so that we fell back on the bed together. Jane snuggled against my chest.

"So, you weren't uncomfortable that I...did that?" I asked tentatively.

"That you did what?" Jane asked with beguiling bluntness, a teasing glint in her beautiful golden orbs.

I chuckled at her replay of my own words when I'd demanded she explicitly tell me what she wanted.

"That I came in your delectable little mouth." I said, my voice becoming even more husky as I replayed the vision of her on her knees before me.

"I loved it." Those three little words were the sexiest thing I ever heard. Besides her throaty cries when she came...

We lay in calmed silence for a few moments and I watched her drifting off to sleep. I could go without sleep forever just to watch her like this.

I was one lucky bastard.

"I'm so...happy." She said drowsily, just before she fell into a deep sleep. Yet her sleepy tone couldn't disguise the awe struck manner in which she spoke. As if she'd never expected to ever be happy.

I remembered how I'd wondered, when we first met deep in the Forks forest, how she'd look like if she was happy. And nothing could compare to seeing how contented she looked now wrapped up in my arms. Listening to our child's heartbeat with my advanced hearing in the peaceful silence, I thought I'd known happiness all my life with the exception of my dad's passing, having my family and wolf pack around me. But being here, anywhere, with her in my arms was true happiness.


	43. Chapter 43

**A.N.: Thank you so much for all of your reviews and support...Couldn't have finished this without it. Epilogue to follow...**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight**

**Chapter 43**

**8 months later**

**JANE**

The sky was heavy with thick, grey white clouds that almost obscured the cerulean sky. But that persistent, heavenly blue peeked in small patches from between the fluffy clouds like a thick patchwork quilt. The afternoon sun was mostly hidden behind the blanket of grey white and lent a humid stickiness to the air.

Stretched out like a beached whale on the warm, grainy sand, I was propped up on my elbows with my head thrown back, my eyes languorously perusing the sky above me.

My eyes slid close in relaxed bliss when I felt his hot fingers tenderly caressing the sensitive soles of my feet. With each motion of his mesmerizing fingers, I felt my sustained tension seeping out of my rigid body.

In this particular hidden area along the Forks coast, the shoreline wasn't as volatile. The little patch of sand was a fawn carpet leading to a natural, calm pool carved out of rocks smoothed by the constant flow of water against them. The familiar soothing ripple of the water washed over my calmed senses. The tangy, transparent grey blue water of this ocean pool was waist deep at its highest depth and in the warmer months, wasn't as bitingly chilly as it usually was. Beyond the pool was the roar of the ocean. Towering frothy splashes of water framed the pool where the choppy waves crashed against the rocks. With my uncanny gaze, I could vividly see the individual droplets of tangy sprays. They were like showers of spontaneous fire-works when the sun was bright enough to make the water shimmer.

And I couldn't help the brief thought that there'd be something to celebrate soon enough.

This little piece of heaven was surrounded by high cliffs all around and perilous trails even for the most seasoned hikers. But not for a shape shifting wolf and his vampire. Even if that vampire was so heavy with child, she couldn't even see her own toes...

I'd fallen even more deeply in love with the deep woods of Forks, always traipsing off with Seth when we came here. He was all too gratified to show me all the out of the way spots that only a Quileute wolf would know. I could never tire of exploring the vast forestry with him. Every ocean view cliff, deeply hidden creek or wildly gushing waterfall that he delightedly showed me, became a blissful treat for my senses. And our many hiking trips together made our bond even stronger.

Yet this tiny, picturesque bay where we lounged now had become my favourite place to escape to.

We'd made this trek many times on our numerous visits to Sue. As I began to know her better, I realized just how kind and good-hearted she was. No big surprise that Seth had acquired these qualities from her. And her obvious close mother and son relationship with Seth branched out to include me as well. Though I was reserved and hesitant at first about bonding with her, her naturally cheerful warmth infinitely made me feel like a cherished part of her family as well. I'd even asked her to teach me how to cook! "Seth shouldn't have to live on fast food once we're on our own." I'd said lightly as she beamed at me. Seth had been amused at my eagerness...until he'd tasted my first classic lasagne.

Sue became like the mother I never had. Now, there wasn't anything I wouldn't do for that woman.

I wished we could live nearer to Forks but the Cullens had decided to move on. They thought it had been time to vacate the area because people might get suspicious of their frozen state; suspicious of how they never changed. Another hefty kick against the top of my belly reminded me just then of how _much_ I had changed. I glanced down fondly at my ballooning stomach, my hand automatically reaching down to touch the spot our baby had kicked.

"He's kicking for a goal again." Seth chuckled, placing his large, warm hand over mine at the top of the smooth ball of my stomach. It was a shared little joke between us that we had a potential football player in there. It was probably an over used analogy all expecting parents made but it really felt as if our little miracle's powerful kicks were that of a seasoned athlete.

The Cullens made the move from their previous home in Forks even before I begun to show at three months of pregnancy. Not aware of the nature of my unusual pregnancy, Carlisle had convinced Seth and myself to move with them as well so that he could monitor me closely. I desperately wanted us to have our own space but had succumbed to Seth's persuasion. Despite my first qualms and fears, I didn't want to risk anything going wrong. And what had us really apprehensive as well was that after that first ultrasound, Carlisle hadn't been able to conduct another one as clearly. As my pregnancy progressed further, he wasn't able to see anything of the developing baby at all. He explained to us that the amniotic sac had most likely infused with my vampire dna thereby the ultrasound probe couldn't penetrate through that extra layer to monitor the baby.

So we'd went along with the Cullens to where they'd moved further up north to Canada.

As it was, we were forced to monitor my pregnancy by its unrelenting progression...and our ability to hear the baby's heart which quickly grew stronger with a resoundingly deep timbre that seemed to give a strange echo if you listened carefully enough. Seth was the one who could mostly hear the baby's heartbeat by ear alone with his super hearing specialty. His special strength as a shape-shifter was an increased sense of hearing that was uniquely his. With my venom infused in his dna now, his unique sense had amplified so that he could hear even better than a vampire in his human form.

Fortunately, all our apprehension was proving to be unnecessary. Our pregnancy progressed at a normal human rate meeting every regular milestone. It wasn't 'regular' at all for us though. It continuously amazed us each time the baby's heartbeat got stronger, when we felt his first kick and with every progressing swell of my stomach.

Spending this time with the Cullens was admittedly such a refreshing change from all the years I'd spent cooped up in Volterra. The Cullens were a family in every true sense of the word regardless that they shared no blood ties with the exception of Renesmee and her parents, and I would be forever grateful to them for including us in their fold as well. Especially me...

Esme and Rosalie were hugely supportive to me also, during those months when I experienced the most dramatic changes; my body, well more particularly my stomach expanding with the growth of the child within me. My new 'bestie' Rosalie never got tired of suggesting baby names. Despite my protests, Esme had already outfitted one of their large, airy rooms into a nursery complete with pale pastel lavender and green hues. "It'll be nice to have a baby in the house again." She'd said kindly, smiling at me with true warmth. I'd smiled back automatically, touched by her genuine enthusiasm, loathe to tell her then that we were already planning on having our own home. But there was no doubt now that we would always be close to the Cullens even if we didn't live with them.

Bella thought that witnessing my pregnancy gave her an entirely new perspective on the other side of the coin, seeing how easy it was for me while it had been so difficult for her. When she had told me of her nightmarish experience with Renesmee, I had exhaled a huge sigh of relief that nothing like that had happened with me. The fortunate circumstance with my situation was that though my body had been altered by Seth's blood, I still retained most of my vampire strength while my pregnancy progressed at a normal human rate. Unlike Bella who had progressed at a preternatural rate with a weakened human body.

Yet I needed to breathe and my heart beat very fast in addition to my frequent bouts of sleeping. I hated having to sleep;almost every time I did, I had the most strange, intense dreams. Or nightmares. Mostly about Volterra. I'd wake up shuddering violently as if I myself were a wolf about to phase and desperately clutch at Seth who always had his hot arms around me.

Thankfully that's where all my similarities to a human ended. With the guidance of Isaiah's journal, we learned that I still needed Seth's blood throughout my pregnancy; both to nourish the baby and strengthen me as well. So I never developed the need to consume human food...and I still craved Seth's blood. It was sort of funny actually, that he was the one really responsible for determining what nutrition our baby received. It was all a warped up scenario that still had Carlisle in a perpetual state of astonishment and curiosity.

During one of our numerous assessments of my pregnancy, Carlisle had explained his impassioned theory on vampires possessing souls. Even though his own son, Edward had previously disbelieved his notion that we still possessed our souls, Carlisle had remained steadfast in his faith. With a few heartfelt words, he had let me know that my pregnancy was confirmation of his belief that vampires did indeed have souls and his quiet conviction had brought me to tears. Besides Seth, he had to be the one, pure minded individual I had ever encountered. And that was saying a lot given our vampire nature.

I had never focused on that angle before though. Whether we as vampires had souls or not. But now I truly wanted to believe something like that. Always I had known myself as a soulless monster and had relished my ability to take life. And yet now here I was, contrary to what was known in our preternatural world, creating a brand new life; bringing forth life.

I still retained most of my vampire senses particularly pertaining to speed, heightened sense of smell and sight. This enabled me to observe my changing body in a way that no normal human woman would have been able to. I could _hear_ our baby's movements inside me, could sometimes even detect what specific type of movements they were. He was particularly fond of kicking his feet up towards the roof of my abdomen and stretching his arms. Sometimes it seemed he was pummelling me from all directions at once but during my extensive research I knew that was a normal sensation when you were expecting.

We had resorted to referring to the baby as 'he' though with the inability to conduct any more ultrasounds it was just a wild guess...

Still Alice insisted that she would be responsible for the baby's entire wardrobe. Already, she had stocked Esme's nursery with a mind boggling variety of infant clothing in every imaginable hue and design. She had never really forgiven me or Seth for spontaneously getting married when we'd went away to spend that time alone together. We'd gotten married just a day after he'd proposed when we'd left Forks to 'run away' to that out of the way rustic resort situated in Sonoma. I bet Alice would have never given me that link if she had the faintest premonition that we'd get married on the sly! She's been even more put out than Sue though we did have a small family celebration afterwards. Shopping for the baby's clothes slightly eased her frustration at having been denied the opportunity to plan another lavish wedding.

I smiled softly, my eyes still closed when I felt his enticingly firm fingers slowly sliding up my calves. I opened my eyes to stare directly into his where he lay just before me. He smiled mischievously at my somewhat rueful grin. If he continued in this vein, it would be much easier to disguise my inner tension. Or maybe to even release it...it definitely wouldn't hurt us to do that.

He crawled up from his perch on the sand between my legs so that he was hovering above me, his weight held on his sculpted arms. His hand trailed down the length of my hair before he tucked a few errant strands behind my ear.

With my pregnancy, my hair had done a remarkable and somewhat annoying thing. It had grown past my usual mid back length almost to my hips. It was much more of a nuisance then to tame it into my preferred chignon so I normally left it in a long plait where the long strands could stay out of my way. Seth loved the new length of my hair. It was he who had first plaited it into its convenient thick long braid when one night I had erratically grasped a pair of scissors to lop it off. Now it was all loose around me again as we lay here in our private spot.

"You are so beautiful." He murmured, his deep voice striking up tingling notes of response from within me.

"Just what every pregnant woman wants to hear." I said wryly. I contemplated my burgeoning belly and my swollen breasts barely restrained by the two tiny triangular pieces of flimsy material. I had been afraid that my changing body wouldn't appeal to him. As my body changed, so did his desire for me.

It got even more intense.

Another reason why I wanted us to have our own house together. Yet despite the continuous fact that my pregnancy was unfolding without any horror complications or anything of that ilk, Carlisle still wanted to monitor me closely.

And since we'd gotten married, Seth had no qualms whatsoever about making love to me in a houseful of vampires. Yet I minded thank you very much..we already had to tolerate enough of Emmett's teasing as it was. His nicknames for Seth seemed endlessly annoying and childish...Super Sperm and Ice Breaker being among the most recent ones.

So I'd used our need to be intimate with each other as another bait to get Seth to bring me on numerous visits to Forks throughout my pregnancy where we had the use of his house on the reservation all to ourselves. Leah had returned to New York and Sue was happy that we visited so often though she grew accustomed to us spending a lot of time alone together. Of course being adventurous, I didn't allow Seth to keep me cooped up in the house like his little pregnant love slave either. We gleefully explored the Forks forestry together, returning to our cliff again and again.

He dipped down and planted his full, hot lips at the peak of my dome shaped belly. I smiled, a full unrestrained smile of pure joy. Then my smile faltered a little when I felt the internal muscles of my stomach tightening again. Another contraction already. The last one had only been a few minutes before.

When Seth raised his head to glance at me, I smiled at him again trying to tamp down my increasing agitation. Maybe Carlisle and Rosalie had been right to be concerned that we shouldn't have come to Forks this close to my due date...

It's just the Braxton Hicks. No need to worry too much right now, I sternly reassured myself. No need to tell Seth anything either and put him in an unnecessary panic. If he only knew I was feeling slight discomfort at these contractions that were increasing steadily, he would immediately shepherd me back to Canada. Where I could be close to Carlisle and his medicine.

Yet I wasn't ready to leave Forks. I had practically begged Seth to come here this weekend, having an almost irrational craving to bask in our secluded spot. The rugged terrain of Canada's forestry was undeniably beautiful but I had a passionate preference for Forks.

Seth trailed warm, slow kisses up my belly and at the underside of my breasts. He nuzzled his face in my plush cleavage moaning softly against my skin. I felt my mind relax its tight hold on my fears and my body tighten at his attention.

Even now while being suspicious that our baby would make his appearance into the world soon, I wanted him. At first Seth had been adamant that he wasn't going to make love to me at all until after my pregnancy but we had put that rule of his to rest on the night of our impromptu honeymoon. Fortunately, our inability to keep our hands off each other did not have any adverse effects on me or the baby.

"Would you like to go for a swim?" Seth asked, his hand resting right against my thudding heart.

"That sounds perfect." I said softly.

I fluidly rose up, grasping his hands as he helped me. I was more eager than usual to get into the placid water that beckoned calmly to me in our rock pool. I squealed when Seth abruptly lifted me at my waist from behind and placed me on the ring of rocks. Giggling, I slid down the smooth rock directly into the cool water immediately wading to the deepest part of the natural pool.

Seth followed me in and I turned to him as he wrapped his arms around me. For long, blissful minutes, we simply enjoyed the feel of the gentle water against our bare skin...then he kissed me. And I was kissing him back fiercely, passionately swirling my tongue around his. We drifted to the smooth rocky border lining our ocean pool and Seth's warm, sculpted arms caged me in between his hard body and the rock. I grabbed his shoulders, gasping a little when he began trailing his tongue against my neck. His heated lips and tongue traversed even lower on my smooth, cool skin and I felt his large fingers untying my bikini top. My breasts sprung free and I sighed as I felt my nipples tighten in the cool water. Then I was moaning in bliss when his hot mouth began tugging on my rigid nipple, my fingers unconsciously digging into his shoulder blades as his mouth and tongue suckled the peak of my breast with tantalizing roughness.

"Yes, so...good..." I moaned my hand reaching up to entangle in his dark hair as I watched him through half lidded eyes. I was ferociously happy that it hadn't been necessary to suspend our need for each other...that our intimacy did not negatively affect our baby...

In those few crucial moments if I wasn't so completely and willingly distracted, I would have noticed all the warning signs I had been thoroughly schooled about.

But Seth's lips and tongue were relentless on my sensitive breasts and my own fingers were eagerly busy ridding him of his shorts...and wrapping themselves as far around him as they could...

When Seth lifted his enticing, hot mouth from me, that's when I felt it. A warm gush of liquid that burst from me followed almost immediately after by a sharp, prodding pain that circulated all around from my lower belly to my back. My entire body stiffened from the sudden pain and I met Seth's startled eyes with an apprehensive look of my own.

"Th..that's not what I think it is? Right?" He stuttered in a low, panicked tone.

I couldn't help my spontaneous chuckle at the fear entering his eyes. Then I gritted my teeth as another pain lanced around me again. "It's exactly what you think it is..." I muttered through clenched teeth. Then let out a small breath as the pain slowly faded.

Seth swallowed convulsively, his eyes widening to almost supernatural proportions. After he swallowed deeply a couple of times, his mouth dropped open like, well... a fish out of water. Though amusement should be the last thing I felt at this minute, I found his expression to be extremely comical. I started giggling then laughed outright when he opened and closed his mouth a few times as if he wanted to talk but was too shocked to even do so. My quite unsuitable laughter abruptly cut off as I inhaled sharply. The pain got even more intense now and I unconsciously grabbed Seth's shoulders with both hands, my fingers digging into his hot skin in my increasing agitation.

Seth recovered from his brief shock, immediately going into a practical mode. He gently placed his hands to cradle each side of my face as he spoke swiftly and decisively.

"Ok, baby...it'll be ok. I'm going to get help. Just stay here and I'll be back as soon as I can."

My hands tightened on his shoulder.

"No...don't go...You can't...it's happening too fast! _You _have to help me..." I gushed out in pain laced, breathy whispers, closing my eyes shut tightly.

"Jane, it's too risky! I don't know what the fuck I'm doing...We need to get help."

"I can't wait for help. Don't leave me alone here. He's coming now!"I shrieked out the last few words as I felt the pain shooting through me with increasing intensity.

"Get it off me!" I gasped. "The bikini bottom."

Immediately his hands tugged the constricting bit of garment off me. After he did this, I turned around to grasp the rock that had been against my back, moving to where the water wasn't so deep so that I could kneel down with my huge stomach tucked under me. Slowly I laid my face on the smooth, flat surface. Clenching my teeth together, I valiantly struggled not to scream...Seth was panicked enough as it was...I would try to spare him even more anxiety if I could help it.

But I quickly realized I couldn't help it.

I shrieked from the sheer agony rocketing through my frame as my stomach tightened again. When the contraction subsided, I became aware of Seth's warm hands brushing my wild, loose hair from around my face.

"Tell me what you want me to do, baby. What can I do to help you." Seth's deep voice sounded sort of muffled, as if he was choking or crying. Or both.

"Just keep your hands on me...It feels good...Don't worryyy...aaargghh!" My intended reassuring words ended in a frantic screech as the pain quickly built up again. The pain of the contraction started off as one block of intensity before quickly escalating to numerous blocks of severe pain only to come crashing down to fine, light gravel. Then it began constructing all over again.

To distract myself from the pain, I counted how many contractions I'd endured so far, not counting the sporadic ones that had started from the day before. Ten buildings in five minutes. I took a deep breath as I felt even another building up in me now. It was really fucking torturous yet I managed to control my screaming for this contraction by slowly gulping in large breaths of tangy ocean air.

But it still wasn't enough. I was soon shrieking mindlessly, my fingers digging into the rock where a few pieces crumbled beneath my tight hold.

Seth's warm hands began lightly rubbing my lower back and the feel of his hands on the exact location of my excruciating pain felt soothing. The heat of his skin against mine managed to cut through the pain somewhat. I bucked against him and his hands stilled on my back.

"No." I gasped out harshly. "Don't stop touching me...it's helping me..."

His divine hands kept rubbing on my back. And the motion of his fingers did help me with the pain;his hands were like this soothing antidote to the constricting ache of the contractions that pummelled my insides. I found myself listening to his breathing...he was right beside me, his bare body almost draped over mine where I held onto the flat rock as if for dear life. I wasn't letting go for anything as I didn't want to involuntarily hurt Seth if I grabbed onto him in my mindless frenzy. He had placed his head next to mine where I lay and his warm breaths were hitting my ear like a soothing if slightly erratic breeze. His close presence was extremely comforting in the brief moments between the contractions when I was aware again of who and where I was...

The contractions were relentlessly constructing buildings again, block by excruciating block. Then I felt a new difference in the feel of my contractions. I could feel my inner walls pressing down against the baby...

With a deep, fortifying breath, I deliberately contracted my inner muscles, recognizing at this moment that I was now in control of this particular contraction...and no longer under the reflexive painful binds of my previously labouring body.

With a grunt, I felt our baby pushing out of me. I felt Seth's sharp intake of air right at my ear.

I had barely completed the motion of turning to alertly look down behind me when Seth swiftly moved to touch our baby's crowning; I knew our baby's head was peeking out from me though I couldn't see it.

"I can see him!" Seth said excitedly. His palpable joy and excitement made me smile weakly. Keeping my eyes intently on Seth where he was intensely watching down at me, I took a deep breath and prepared to give that final push. But in my need to do so, I underestimated the sheer size of our baby. Though I was in complete control of propelling him out of me, I wasn't prepared for the deep pressure.

"Baby, you need to push him out..." Seth murmured, his hands rubbing my back again.

"I...I..can't! He's so big..." I gasped, tears of frustration welling up then spilling over onto my arm where I rested my head.

"You can do this. I'm right here...just keep trying. Take it slow..." Seth coaxed me gently.

"It's too much!" I moaned onto the rock, my voice muffled and indecipherable even to me at this moment.

"Don't give up baby. Just take your time. Take it slowly...he's almost here."

The water gently lapped around my sweat slicked body and a balmy breeze wafted my hair around my face. Taking a calming deep breath of the ocean air, I gritted my teeth...and painstakingly taking my time just as he instructed, I gave my entire concentration to what I had to do; making sure our baby came out into the world safely.

Stifling my impulse to push with one forceful heave, I focused instead on breathing steadily while slowly easing our baby into Seth's waiting hands.

I gave a small sigh of immense relief when I felt his heavy weight squeezed out of me.

Seth swiftly held up our baby who about a millisecond from being uplifted from the calm, ocean pool began to scream with a shrill, piercing cry. That ringing cry ignited an intense spark of victorious gratification within me. I smiled elatedly staring at the look of wonder lighting up Seth's face then eagerly looking at our...baby.

Our son...

Seth looked up at me and our eyes locked deeply for a brief moment then he was bringing him closer to me. Instinctively, I reached out my arms to hold him in all his screaming glory and Seth gently laid him in my arms being extra careful as he was still attached to me.

"He's so beautiful." I whispered in awe. Though I hadn't spoken loudly, our little son quieted seemingly at the sound of my voice and looked up at me with wide alert eyes. Seth's dark hair profusely crowned his perfectly shaped head and his smooth baby limbs had no sign of the regular wrinkling associated with some newborn babies. His eyes were an electric blue as he gazed up at me. Cautiously, I trailed just the tip of my finger against his cheek...his skin was extremely warm..and felt like the softest, freshly ironed satin sheet. His beauty was astounding even through the bits of blood clinging to him like a second skin. And I fell in love all over again...he looked so much like Seth!

I looked at Seth and we both laughed together...in relief and exultation. At our laughter, our brand new son's face crinkled into what looked like a grin. We both gasped together as his intelligent blue eyes found Seth's face and looked at him with an uncanny awareness, the corners of his eyes crinkling slightly as he regarded his father.

Seth moved to wrap his arm around me when his entire body went still. My own brows furrowed in consternation as I wondered at his abrupt reaction. Then I felt another pang of pain ricocheting through me again wrapping its too familiar tight band of aching around my stomach and lower back.

Seth said slowly, " I can still hear another heartbeat inside you Jane. Besides yours..."

"Take him..." I gasped harshly. Seth immediately scooped up our gurgling baby boy in his arms.

"That doesn't mean what I think it does, does it?" I panted out.

"It's exactly what you think it is..." Seth whispered.

"How...in...the...hell...didn't we detect this before?!" I shrieked now. Sagging weakly against the rock, I felt the familiar constricting of my inner walls. I inhaled sharply, resolutely striving for some control. Yet I was grateful that the pain was practically non-existent now compared to that first agony from mere moments before with the spontaneous birth of our son.

_Our_ _first son._

What had me hyperventilating now was my mind struggling to grasp that I had another baby inside me. Our baby boy cooed blissfully in Seth's arms, unaware of the tenseness reverberating through Seth. He inhaled sharply looking at me with dawning fear.

"What?" I asked quietly, feeling a strange fear suffusing me as well. That fear was fed by the daunting look in Seth's eyes.

"The heartbeat's slowing down. I think the other baby's in danger..."

I shut my eyes tightly, shaking my head in negation and silently gave all my strength to getting our baby out of me...into the cool air that he needed to live. But no matter how I tried, he wouldn't budge. It was completely unexpected...that I had been carrying twins all this time without having known it. Damn that ultrasound probe for not being able to penetrate my skin anymore!

I couldn't bear having to lose him, even though I had only been aware of his existence for all of a few minutes. Switching back to my previous position, I grasped onto the rock again and sunk down to my knees in the cool water. I was desperate to do anything to save our other baby. But that didn't help either.

"Jane, hold him...let me try something." Seth said, his voice echoing with a desperation that mirrored my own. I took our son from him as tenderly as possible secure that I could hold him without hurting him as I wasn't really experiencing any deep pain with my lingering labour. He instantly nuzzled his tiny nose against my breast as I clasped him close to me. He had a naturally deep chocolate scent tinged with the merest hint of spice... it was a perfect combination of both Seth and mine, and that beguiling scent was the only thing preventing me from degenerating into a total panic mode.

I gasped as I felt Seth's hands prodding at my contracting entrance.

"Fuck, he's in a breech position. I can see the tips of his toes..." Seth rasped hoarsely.

_"We have to get him out!" _I gasped frantically, then took a deep breath of our new son who filled my arms, striving for calm.

"Ok, ok." I heard the air whooshing into Seth's lungs as he sucked in a deep breath. "We've got to do this fast...together. I'll pull...and you push." He said quickly.

I nodded gruffly, struggling not to grasp our son too tightly in my arms.

"Ready?" Seth asked softly.

"Yes!"

I felt Seth's hands tugging at our baby and I squeezed my eyes shut tightly, contracting my muscles with my full strength. At the periphery of all my engaged senses, I remembered not to hold our son too tight in my arms, not to squeeze him too hard in my concentration to get his brother out. He was silent in my tense arms and it appeared as if he'd fallen asleep.

"Good, you're doing good, baby. He's coming out." Seth gasped harshly.

I nodded though I knew he couldn't see the gesture, gritting my teeth as I focused on getting our other baby out of me safely.

"That's it." Seth murmured soothingly, his deep voice a balm to my traumatized senses. "I've got him." He exclaimed suddenly.

"Um, actually...her."

I let out my breath in one long gasp not even aware that I had been holding it. Slowly I opened my eyes. Too quiet. Our first had squealed his head off almost as soon as Seth had lifted him out of me. Time seemed suspended as I looked down at Seth where he knelt in the water before me staring down at the inert, tiny form of our second baby. Our baby...girl.

"Why isn't she crying?" I whispered. Seth shook his head silently, his eyes riveted on her as she lay so still in his arms. Our son twitched in my arms then, his chubby little hand reaching skyward as if grasping for something. Then he began screaming loudly as I held him, my eyes pinned on his sister.

"Bring her to me." I gasped brokenly. Seth hadn't taken his eyes off our tiny baby girl. Slowly he stood just before me, bringing her closer as I held her squalling, writhing brother in my arms. His little face grew reddened with the exertion of his cries.

She was so tiny that Seth could hold her completely in one of his hands with room left over. So tiny and so...perfect. Yet all her features were a blur to my eyes that pricked sharply. I noticed one crucial thing. Her little chest was absolutely still...she emitted no signs of life. Our unknown little baby girl...was dead.

"No, she's not dead!" Seth snapped as if I had spoken aloud. He quickly dipped his head and applied mouth to mouth resuscitation. As Seth continued to breathe harshly for her, I slid down against that sturdy rock into the lapping water, and silently cried as our son screamed his rage at the sky.

My mind was completely numb and dark. I shut my eyes, cuddling our son against me tenderly as tears slid unchecked from beneath my closed lids.

Yet...another cry joined my silent crying and our son's hefty shrieking. It wasn't as strong or as shrill as our first baby but a lighter, more delicate sound. My eyes flew open as I heard our daughter cry for the first time. The first thing I saw was Seth's huge, triumphant grin and crinkled watery eyes. Then my eyes flew down to our little girl in his arms and I began sobbing uncontrollably. Seth drew close to me then, holding our baby girl carefully as she cried even more. And my sobs grew louder in intensity as our son's cries tapered off bit by bit.

I reached out and lightly touched the tiny bit of her dark hair, one similarity she shared with her brother. Her little eyes were half lidded and ebony hued and her cries hitched a little as she burrowed herself more deeply against her father's bare heated chest.

In this moment I truly believed that God existed and that I was profusely blessed. The blazing fire of my tumultous past was behind me and my family surrounding me presently was a healing balm from this moment on. In an obscure ocean pool forged by age smoothed rocks, I had everything I needed.


	44. Epilogue

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight **

**Epilogue**

**3 years later**

**JANE**

After only a year at Dartmouth college, it was easier to pretend being human now. Much easier to consistently do the little things that ensured my transition from oblivious immortal to seeming human. Like not sitting too still or upright. Slowing down your movements...a lot. Blinking once in a while... and certainly not returning the all too annoying stare of that obnoxious guy in the corner of the cafe with a lethal stare of your own.

Ok, so that was a big thing. To restrain the use of my potent as ever power. I never really felt the need to use it though. I had no pent up anger left in me anymore to painfully release. Seth had taken care of that...

But still, I was greatly glad and relieved when my power returned to me shortly after our children's birth two years ago. It was a useful...weapon to have if any renegade vampires ever dared to threaten my family.

_My family. _

Anytime I thought of Seth and our two year old babies, a burst of elation exploded within me. Even after three years, it was all still newly surreal. I don't think that feeling will ever really wane.

Fondly I recalled the evening before when we'd arrived home. Home was a cozy two story cabin house located on the outskirts of New Hampshire. It was the perfect location not too far from campus yet isolated by the thousands of acres of surrounding forestry. The ideal setting for a large wolf to run free completely undetected...

Seth and I had just walked through the door looking forward to spending the evening celebrating our babies' second birthday. Our laughter was abruptly cut off by the sight of Jeremy stuffing his face with fistfuls of birthday cake which had been unceremoniously toppled from its perch on the table. He had fluffy white frosting and dark chocolate crumbs smeared all over his face, his chest even his ebony hair. His messy exuberance was in direct contrast to his sister who was seated not too far away from the ritual catastrophe that was Jeremy eating. Seraphina sat primly casting wary glances alternately at her brother and the piece of cake neatly set on a little saucer on the table. Her dainty hand held a fork with a grace and aplomb much more mature than her two years of age as she wrinkled her tiny, pert nose at the food before her.

Emmett sat seemingly oblivious of the toppled cake, his amber eyes fixated on the game before him.

Jeremy looked up at us with wide brown eyes, pausing from his feast on the floor. At that same moment, Rosalie whooshed into the room with wipe cloths.

"I tried getting to him before he could...attack the cake." She shrugged. "But he was too fast."

With lightening speed, Jeremy shovelled as much cake into his mouth with his frosting covered fingers, his cheeks ballooning out with his efforts before Seth could reach him. Really our kid at two years old could easily beat veteran competitors at an eating competition, hands down.

I chuckled moving to help Rosalie clean the remnants of the spattered cake while Seth lightly reprimanded Jeremy. Somehow he managed to look contrite while attempting to swallow the large wedge of cake in his mouth. Rosalie giggled at the apologetic picture Jeremy made as he pouted his lips and lowered his head forlornly. It was a stance he took anytime he knew he did something naughty. Seth couldn't help chuckling either.

Emmett glanced away form his game, "Hey, how'd all that cake get on the floor?"

Rosalie rolled her eyes at Emmett's obliviousness. "You wouldn't notice if the ceiling caved in while watching that game." She quipped.

"Hey, this is the last live game of the season." Emmett said, his face completely serious.

Shaking my head, I watched as Seth plucked Jeremy up and swung him around in the air turning in fast circles. Jeremy's repentant expression gave way to helpless giggles and I felt my own lips twitching up into a smile at the sound of his exuberant laughter.

Even with our inhuman capacity to move fast, it was really hard to keep up with Jeremy at times. As he grew into this toddler stage, he was steadily developing extra-ordinary speed...which he used to his advantage in the most mischievous of ways...and quite often at that.

His sister on the other hand possessed the disposition of an angel. Her usual slate blue eyes were now dark as she set her slice of cake aside, rushing towards me. Our little angel was hungry. Unlike her brother who craved human food, Seraphina mostly lived on blood. She only tolerated human food to an extent. I lowered myself so that I could clasp her in my arms. She hugged me tightly as I tucked a few strands of her long, dark hair behind her delicate ear.

She was quite the opposite of her brother in many ways not just choice of food. Where Jeremy was quite outgoing to everyone and interacted bravely, Seraphina cleaved to us always crying whenever we had to go to classes, so normally one of us was always here with them. She was a shy, quiet little girl who would only hug me or Seth, no matter that Sue, Leah and the Cullens, and even Alec and Chelsea saw us fairly frequently.

"Mommy, I'm hungry." Her tiny voice was just the merest whisper, the cadence similar to the lightest cooing of a dove.

"I'm on it." Seth said lightly setting Jeremy down and moving towards the kitchen where he began to prepare Seraphina's meal. Our little girl was on much the same diet as the Cullens consuming 'vegetarian' blood. Seraphina skipped lightly after her daddy into the kitchen area.

Rosalie smiled at her fondly. "She's so well behaved."

"Thank you so much for watching them, Rose." I smiled widely at her.

"Not a problem. Since you guys started attending Dartmouth, we hardly ever get to see them anymore."

I glanced down grabbing onto Jeremy when he barrelled into my legs, tugging at me to lift him up.

"I think it's time for a bubbly bath, little man." I held him to me enclosed in my arms as I nuzzled his neck. I could spend endless moments just inhaling his natural, baby scent. It reminded me of his father so much except his scent didn't pull me in the same way Seth's did. It didn't make me thirsty. He wiggled in my arms, impatient to be moving about once again. Of course he couldn't stay still for the space of a few seconds much more for the hours I wanted to spend simply holding him.

He wriggled out of my arms and whooshed past Rosalie running to their baby room. "No bath!" He squealed. I sighed following after him at a more leisurely pace. No need to encourage him by whooshing after him myself. Though rushing after him at an inhuman pace was absolutely necessary sometimes to prevent calamities like say, a nasty fall. We couldn't prevent all his meetings with the floor though, he was such a little whirlwind of preternatural energy with all the terror of a two year old toddler.

Bella, Edward, Renesmee and Jacob had arrived not too long after I had given Jeremy his bath. The two couples also went to Dartmouth college with Seth and I.

I was eternally grateful for Edward and Bella's help during those first few months at Dartmouth when I was new at regularly pretending to be human.

Alice and Jasper were on their umpteenth honeymoon, Bella and Edward explained good naturedly. Esme had remained in Canada with Carlisle where he immersed himself in his beloved medical practice. We were all planning to visit them the upcoming weekend then stop at Forks to visit Sue and Charlie afterward.

Now sitting in the crowded campus cafe teeming with chattering students as I awaited my husband to join me, I thought of the way I had adapted to being a mother. It wasn't all easy but that sturdy determination and discipline that I had implemented as one of the most feared guards in Volterra helped in a way. My much stronger determination to be a good mother and learning everything possible to make me such, snapped loose the remaining chains holding me back from being...me. I became considerate and nurturing in a way I would have never thought I was capable of when I had been a ruthless and unfeeling Volturi guard.

And though my love for Seth was one of the most solid things in my existence even before the advent of my pregnancy, sharing the immense and complex gift of being parents cemented our bond even more deeply.

I quickly checked the time, he should be here in a few minutes. He was meeting me for a quick lunch after his class. Of course, I wouldn't be joining him eating though. He still 'fed' me quite well. I involuntarily shivered in the humid atmosphere, licking my lips unconsciously. Later...

Of course, with our arrangement, we took fail proof precautions. As much as we loved our little ones, we didn't want to repeat that experience anytime soon.

While I waited for him, I decided to work on my manuscript. I was in the process of writing an ongoing memoir of sorts of our life. At first I had been hesitant to begin writing but with Seth's encouragement and colorful perspective inputs, I delved into it. And that ancient journal had also inspired me to create our own family records.

I had always wanted to do something like this ever since I had been indoctrinated into the Volturi library not long after my change all those years ago. I had tentatively approached...Aro with a suggestion to keep records of our existence but he had summarily discouraged me from my pursuit of writing, firmly emphasizing that my need to write was impetuous and unnecessary...

I had visited that meticulously intact library after Jeremy and Seraphina were born. It had been fully barricaded so that there was minimum possibility of the location being discovered by humans. The library had become a monumental, secretive museum for vampires who visited from all over the globe. The shell of the Volturi stronghold where the ancient library was located also served as a reminder to vampires the world over that the Olympic coven was the strongest one in our vampiric existence...the coven who together with allies had managed to overthrow the seemingly all powerful Volturi.

After a vast meeting with all the known vampires, it had been decided that the Cullens together with the Denalis would be the pinnacle for troubled vampires to seek out with their woes.

It was a responsibility that was bittersweet to them. They were glad to end the reign of the Volturi's subtle terror with a peaceful approach of their own. Yet there was the constant concern that there would be rogues they would have to unavoidably dispatch. We all agreed that we would not let anyone or anything threaten our families again.

And so far in our secretive world, all was peaceful both with covens that existed on the perimeter of the literal world and with the _families_ that co-existed with humans. Those families namely being the Denalis, the Cullens and us.

As uncomfortable as I had been at first about pretending to be human and living among them, I couldn't imagine living my life any other way. I had been content for us to live on the edges of humanity, just merely observing and learning, always learning, without having to actually be among people. Even though I didn't thirst after human blood any longer, it had been still difficult to move freely among them, to pretend to be a...normal person. And I had to deal with the unexpected and intense guilt. The guilt of knowing how many times I'd killed...

That guilt will probably always haunt me but it also served as a firm reminder of how much I had changed...and how far I have come from that soul-less being I had been.

Seth walked in just then and I forgot about my deep thoughts. I was instantly fixated on him as he made his way towards me, weaving around the crowded tables at a careful human pace with his huge endearing grin. My eyes briefly flickered over the way his shirt skimmed over his broad shoulders and hugged his firm biceps and the fit of his dark jeans. And I wasn't the only one visually salivating over him, being very aware of the second looks he was getting from other women and even a few men. When he finally reached me, he bent to me and then ever so slowly kissed me on my lips. Even with the potential of forever, this little moment we shared in our human facade made me wish that time could stand still.

**The End**

* * *

**Author's Ending Notes**

**Disclaimer: No copyright infringement intended**

**My playlist for Healing Fire:**

_Bring me to life- Evanescence_

_Lost in Paradise-Evanescence_

_I won't give up- Jason Mraz_

_I don't wanna miss a thing- Aerosmith_

_Anywhere- Evanescence_

_We found love- Rihanna_

_Everytime we touch (slow version)- Cascada_

_Truly Madly Deeply- Savage Garden_

Huge thanks all you absolutely beautiful, totally supportive readers for all your reviews. Every one guided me through this fic.

I'm pretty sure that I've said every name of all the Twilight hotties in my sleep for the past few...months or so...male and female heheheh...sorta had to explain myself a bit...

And while writing this, I had this 'inner' critic that would make the most ridiculous comments...and still does. But anyway, I'm re-writing this story...gonna fill in some spots here and there. And I'm going to try my hand at writing a couple of one shots before writing another long story again (someone suggested I do a Jane/Edward story, so I may give it a shot ;)) plus I have a couple ideas and story plots swirling around in my head...and in rough draft form on 'paper' which my inner critic is having fun with...

I may muster the guts to post them someday, hopefully soon.


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